llegal mining in Gir: HC asks principal secy to appear on Jan 21

The IndianExpress 22/12/2010

THE Gujarat High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered the Principal Secretary (Mines & Minerals) to appear before it on January 21 in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by slain activist Amit Jethava.

Jethava had sought directions to check the illegal mining activity in the periphery of
Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.Jethva was killed in an audacious armed attack in front of the HC building in July after filing the PIL.
The Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, ordered the Principal Secretary to appear in person before the court to answer certain queries, which the state government failed to put before the court on affidavit. The queries were re
lated to fixing accountability of the concerned government official under whose jurisdictional areas the illegal mining is going on.E Shailaja, the lawyer representing the petitioner, said the court — in its earlier order — had asked the state government to come up with an affidavit on the issue of making people accountable for illegal mining.
In its affidavit, the State
Government had stated that they have formed a task force to check the menace.Though, the bench was not satisfied with the affidavit and asked the state counsel as to what if the task force does not perform the duty well.
The court also asked if the concerned government officials like mamlatdars and police sub-inspectors are being held responsible for the illegal mining in their areas.

જેઠવા હત્યાકેસના આરોપીઓને જેલમાં સગવડો અપાતી હોવાનો આક્ષેપ

divyabhaskar-22/12/2010
આરટીઆઇ એકિટવિસ્ટ અમિત જેઠવાના ખૂનમાં પકડાયેલા જૂનાગઢના સાંસદ દીનુ બોધા સોલંકીના ભત્રીજા શિવા સોલંકીને સાબરમતી સેન્ટ્રલ જેલમાં સુવિધા અપાઈ રહી હોવાનો આક્ષેપ તેના પિતા ભીખાલાલ જેઠવાએ કર્યોછે અને આ અંગે તેમણે જેલના ભાઇજી પી. સી. ઠાકુર સહિત મુખ્યમંત્રી, વિરોધપક્ષના નેતાને પણ પત્ર લખીને તપાસ કરાવવા રજૂઆત કરી છે.

શિવા સોલંકી વર્તમાન ભાજપ સરકારના નાણામંત્રીના વેવાઇના પુત્ર તેમજ જૂનાગઢના ભાજપના સાંસદે દિનુ સોલંકીનો ભત્રીજો છે. કોડીનાર નગરપાલિકાનો ભાજપનો પૂર્વ સભ્ય અને પૂર્વ નગરપતિ રહી ચૂકયો હોવાથી સરકાર પોલીસ ખાતામાં અને મંત્રીઓમાં મોટી વગ ધરાવે છે. તેના સગા કાકા દીનુ સોલંકી હોવાથી સાબરમતી સેન્ટ્રલ જેલમાં મોબાઇલ ફોન, લેપટોપ સહિતની સુવિધાઓ મળી રહી હોવાનું જાણવા મયું છે. સાબરમતી જેલની ઓચિંતી તપાસ કરવામાં આવે અને જે બેરેકમાં શિવા સોલંકીને રખાયો છે. મુલકાતીઓનું રજિસ્ટર તથા ગેરકાયદે શિવાને મળવા આવતા તેના મળતિયાઓ તેમજ જેલની આસપાસ લગાવેલા મોબાઇલ ટાવરની તપાસ કરવામાં આવે તો કોડીનાર, રાજકોટ, ગાંધીનગર, જૂનાગઢ, કેશોદમાં કેટલા ફોન થયા તેની માહિતી મળી

ગેરકાયદે માઇનિંગ મુદ્દે ખાણખનીજના અગ્રસચિવને હાઇકોટર્નું તેડું

Divyabhaskar-22/12/2010

અમદાવાદ : રાજયમાં ચાલી રહેલા ગેરકાયદે ખનીજ ઉત્ખનનના મુદ્દે ખુલાસો કરવા માટે રાજયના ખાણ અને ખનીજ વિભાગના અગ્રસચિવને ૨૧ જાન્યુઆરીએ હાજર રહેવા હાઇકોટર્ના ચીફ જસ્ટિસ એસ. જે. મુખોપાઘ્યા અને જસ્ટીસ કે. એમ. ઠાકરની ખંડપીઠે હુકમ કર્યોછે.

આરટીઆઇ એકટીવિસ્ટ અમિત જેઠવાએ કરેલી જાહેરહિતની અરજીની સુનાવણી હાઇકોટર્માં યોજાઈ હતી. જેમાં રાજય સરકારે એક સોગંદનામું કરીને ગેરકાયદે ખનીજ ઉત્ખનનના મુદ્દે સરકાર દ્વારા લેવાયેલાં પગલાંથી હાઇકોટર્ને વાકેફ કરવા પ્રયાસ કર્યોહતો, પરંતુ ચીફ જસ્ટિસે વળતો સવાલ કરતાં જણાવ્યુ ંહતું કે ગેરકાદે માઇનિંગ અટકાવવા માટે જવાબદાર અધિકારીઓ સામે સરકાર કેમ પગલાં નથી ભરતી? અથવા તો તે લોકોની જવાબદારી કેમ નક્કી કરતી નથી? આ અંગે ખુલાસો કરવા માટે ખાણ અને ખનીજ વિભાગના અગ્રસચિવે કોટર્માં હાજર રહેવાનો નિર્દેશ કરવામાં આવ્યો હતો. ઉલ્લેખનીય છે કે અમિત જેઠવાએ ગેરકાયદે ખનીજ ઉત્ખનન અંગે કોટર્માં જાહેર હિતની અરજી કર્યા બાદ ખાણ માફિયાઓ દ્વારા તેની હત્યા કરવામાં આવી હતી.

PIL against illegal mining in Gir: HC summons secretary

Times of India 22/12/2010
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Tuesday directed principal secretary of the mines and minerals department to remain present before the court to explain the ‘inaction’ on the issue of illegal mining in the state. The officer has been summoned on January 17, when further hearing on the PIL against illegal mining has been kept. Acting on a PIL filed by slain Amit Jethwa against illegal mining in and around the Gir sanctuary, a bench headed by the chief justice sought to know what actions have been taken by the government in this regard. The high court had earlier proposed that strict actions should be taken against erring police officials and revenue officers. The state government intimated the court that a task force has been monitoring illegal mining across the state. However, the court was not satisfied with the progress made in curbing illegal mining. The court wanted to know the state government’s proposed action on ecological imbalance caused due to illegal mining. TNN

Who killed Amit Jethwa?.. its Dinu Solanki and company

TIMESNOW
Shocking revelations three days after RTI activist Amit Jethwa was murdered, who was killed in front of Gujarat High Court from a point blank range by two assailants. Jethwa, known as the green crusader was fighting the latest battle against the mining mafia. The opponent BJP MP Dinu Solanki accused of running illegal mining in Gujarat. Solanki has not surfaced ever since Jethwa’s murder and now a top lawyer from the Gujarat High Court has said Jethwa knew he would be killed. 

Jethwa's friends and family claims he was on the verge of exposing an illegal mining racket near the Gir forests running into crores and he was silenced for his honesty. For a state government already under pressure with the Sohrabbuddin encounter case, these fresh allegations come as another blow. The PIL against illegal mining on the periphery of Gir forest area has named Solanki and his family members. An Ahmedabad police team has now left for Junagad to investigate the charges. 

“Police are investigating all aspects linked to Jethwa's murder, including the name of persons figuring in the PIL on illegal mining filed by him," DCP Brijeshkumar Jha said. "We have found that the bike used by the assailants was stolen from Dholka town," Jha said, adding that the bag left by the two at the site of the incident had clothes with marks of a Junagad laundry. But the question is where Solanki is? Why has no official FIR been filed against him and why have Jethwa's revelations of the threat to him not been considered? 

Indian activists risk death

TheEcologist London

Environmental activist Amit Jethva was murdered after campaigning against illegal mining in a national park

The recent death of Indian environmentalist Amit Jethva was the latest in a growing number of disturbing incidents of brutality and violence against activists, report Ambika Hiranandani and Tom Levitt

On 20 July 2010, forest campaigner Amit Jethva was shot dead at point blank range by two assailants on motorbikes as he was leaving Gujrat High Court following a meeting with his lawyer. 



In a country facing an acute environmental crisis as it rapidly industrialises, his assassination was no stray incident but one of a rising number of attacks on activists. Theheadline-grabbing decision to ban the British mining company Vedanta from opening a bauxite mine on tribal land in eastern India was only achieved after an unprecedented amount of national and international media attention. 

Elsewhere decisions have not been so favourable. Recently approved plans for a new airport in Mumbai will destroy 170 hectares of critically important mangroves. Conservation groups say alternative sites were not properly considered and that their objections were given little consideration. But being ignored is perhaps better than the fate many environmental activists face in India today. 

In January 2010, Satish Shetty, a whistle blower and anti-corruption campaigner, who brought to light land scams in West Indian state Maharashtra, was murdered, while Shanmughan Manjunath suffered the same fate after exposing petrol pumps that sold adulterated fuel. Activists say that in contrast to the image India portrays - of a nation that prioritises environmental issues - the reality is in fact very bleak. 

‘Activists in India are constantly at risk. Stories of activists being killed are a moral setback to all of us. Ruffle the wrong person’s feathers and it could be you next,’ says Stalin D, project director at the environmental NGO Vanashakti. Ravi Rebbapragada, executive director of Samata, a tribal rights and environmental NGO, believes that as India continues its rapid industrialisation, things are likely to get worse, ‘as the stakes go higher the risk to the activist goes higher,’ he says. 


Anti-mining activist killed

At the time of his death Amit was campaigning to protect against forest encroachment. He was heavily involved in the Gir National park, the only home of the Asiatic lion and a protected forest area in western India that covers more than 1,400 km sq. His efforts to expose illegal mining in the forest were rewarded last week with a special posthumous award. Before his death he had filed a lawsuit (Public Interest Litigation) against illegal limestone mining in the buffer zone around the National Park. His application had named a local MP Dinu Solanki from India’s Hindu Nationalist Party and the case was said to, ‘openly expose his link with illegal mining operations’.



Amit was well-known for standing up for environmental issues and had even taken on Bollywood actor Salmon Khan for shooting an endangered Blackbuck. As such he had many enemies in the government, according to his friend and environmental lawyer Manish Vaidya. His family and friends say he had been under threat ever since he started investigating illegal mining operations in and around Gir National Park. 

‘A couple of years back, Dinu Solanki’s men physically assaulted Amit at a family wedding,’ recalls Alpa Amit Jethva, his widow, who says Amit had complained to the police after one incident but nothing happened. Dinu Solanki was unavailable for comment but a police investigation since Amit's death found that he had ‘no role to play’. The police confirmed to the Ecologist that his nephew Shiva Solanki has been charged with conspiracy to assassinate Jethva and a second man with his murder.



Lack of support from police

Activists in India say support is often lacking from the police when they try and initiate proceedings against their attackers. In March 2010, while exposing illegal sand mining in the state of Maharastra, Sumaira Abdulali, a trustee of the Awaaz Foundation, an environmental NGO, was followed, threatened and physically attacked by mafia linked to sand dredging in the area. Sumaira and her team went out on a boat to photograph illegal sand mining in an ecologically sensitive creek, where they saw over fifty dredgers within a span of one kilometre. After they took the photographs and left, they were followed by thugs. 

NDTV-Toyota Eco Awards to martyr Amit Jethwa

THE HINDU

President Pratibha Patil presents the NDTV special jury award for RTI activist Amit Jethwa (posthumous), to his wife Alpa Jethwa in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Stressing the need for prudent management of the planet's resources, President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday warned that rapacious hunger could fast diminish them, and reduce space for nature and various life forms it supports.

“The manner in which we are consuming we seem to have forgotten that many resources are finite. Are we striking at the very roots of our sustenance? Our unrelenting withdrawal of the earth's resources has adverse impacts on the earth itself. If not, such a study should be undertaken. Our generational responsibility also demands that we do not consume in a manner that we leave a depleted legacy for our children and grandchildren. We should use resources economically and optimally by consciously adopting practices that are environmental friendly and avoid wastage.”

The President was speaking at the presentation of NDTV environment awards, “The Greenies,” here.

Referring to the Roshni programme she has undertaken on the Presidential Estate, Ms. Patil said it was meant to foster a sustainable habitat. “The initiative has waste management, energy efficiency and usage of new and renewable energy as essential components. The effort was to create awareness and a sense of involvement in each individual living in the Estate in managing our environs in a responsible manner. We must create awareness of environment in both urban and rural areas. It should be discussed in Panchayati Raj institutions, municipal bodies and the NGOs.”

Pointing out that India needed international backing in its endeavour for ecological sustainable development, Ms. Patil said the international community should collectively support the efforts of developing countries through financial resources and technology transfer.

In a live interaction with Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, who was one of the anchors, Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh, speaking from Cancun, asserted that India was a problem solver and bridge to narrow differences between contending parties. The Minister was given an award for his commendable work on the environmental front.

Making it clear that he did not have much hope from the Cancun climate change summit, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said India should save energy and take green initiatives on its own. “People want to make a difference. We have got to make solar energy cheaper so that we can have it in all our homes. It is a big task but we have to fulfil it.”

Earlier, NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy said the President had put her stamp of approval on people (award winners) who were playing a crucial role in the future of the country.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Veer Bhadra Mishra for creating awareness of the threats posed to the Ganga. The Best Green celebrity award was presented to Bollywood actor John Abraham. RTI activist Amit Jethwa was posthumously given a special jury award for exposing illegal mining in the Gir forest in Gujarat. There were winners from different fields in other categories.