MITHI: A large number of villagers affected by coal mining and power generating firms took out a rally in Islamkot on Sunday in protest against the firms’ reneging on their agreements and commitments with locals and irreparable damage to environment.

The protesters’ leaders warned that if the firms and the government did not listen to and redress their grievances then they would launch a long march from Islamkot to Karachi. The rally was organised by Thar Coal Action Committee.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chairman Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, who was one of the leaders, said that the mining and coal power plants were not meant for the development of the area but they were instead causing massive damage and making lives of locals more difficult than they were in past.

He said that Tharis’ voice would be raised at global level through the action committee which would launch a movement including protests all over the province and sit-ins on roads of Thar leading to the coal power plants. They might also proceed to Karachi to stage a demonstration, he said.

He said that the movement against mining companies would continue till Tharis were restored their usurped rights and coal power plants were stopped from work. “We don’t accept coal mining and power plants. The mining should come to an end,” he said.

Shah said that unlimited greed of the companies had already not only displaced a large number of villagers but massive extraction of coal from different blocks in Thar Coalfields had also posed serious threat to environment and ecology of the rain-dependent arid zone of the country.

He said that not only people of Thar but people of other districts would also have to pay dearly for the damage being caused by coal extraction and power generation through coal without any mechanism as was advised and endorsed by the organisations working on environmental issues in the country.

He lashed out at Thari lawmakers for their criminal silence over continuous struggle by villagers affected by the companies.

Bheemraj Meghwar, a leader of the action committee, said that after displacement of people from Gorano village for the sake of the wastewater reservoir, residents of other areas had also started facing harmful affects of the toxic water of coal mines being dumped in the reservoir.

He said that the villagers’ cattle often got trapped in the reservoir and now officials of the firm were considering erecting a fence around the reservoir. “If a single tree is cut down in Gorano village, we will resist it,” he warned.

Affected residents of the villages of Nihal Mehranpoto, Abdullah Mehranpoto, Sooraj Jaipal, Akbar Vikyo, Seeta Bai, Meera Bai and Hafiz Mohammad Ramzan deplored that the mining company had failed to provide compensation to their land, grazing fields and trees even after carrying out a survey.

They said that the mining firms had violated the agreement with the villagers, the firms’ officials were harassing them with the support of police and they were closing their old paths and ways used by people and livestock.

They demanded justice and announced that they would not evacuate their homes and land and pledged to continue the peaceful protest but warned if the company continued to harass them then the firm and the administration would be responsible for any untoward incident.

Earlier, PFF organised a ‘Peoples Tribunal’ in Thario Halepoto village on Saturday evening, where villagers presented testimonies against the coal companies. They claimed that the companies were manipulating their land record documents to deny them payment of full compensation for their property.

Stage drama and songs, depicting issues of Thar people, were also performed during the tribunal.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2021