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munki and muke from trollyd travelled to india and sri lanka last year...here are reports on 2 films made with local activists
Singrauli is the major power production centre of north India, situated in the two states of Utter Pradesh and Madyah Pradesh. This area is bigger than Yorkshire. This area has 6 open cast mines, 11 Thermo Power stations and a 5,000 sqkm resevoir (the Rihand Dam). These projects have destroyed lives, cultures, communities,and environment. And continue to do so. This relentless development is funded by the World Bank in the name of poverty reduction and caring for indigenious communities'.Continious displacement over the last 30years has destroyed a once symbiotic relationship between man and environment, tribal communities have been forced in to the contract labour market, a position exploited by the multinatioanl corpartions and state governments which maintain these peoples squallor and poverty.
The estimated 200,000 contract labours are essential to keep the the mining and power production running. Technically though, they do not exist. They are employed by crooked subcontractors for 50 rs a day (60p) but the contractor takes 32 rs from each worker (for the privilage of doing the most dirty and dangerous work). Anyone complaining about corruption or conditions is not hired again.
Death is a daily reality for the people of Singrauli. The living conditions faced by displaced peoples and contract labourers appeaerd to us like open sewers. The crowded wooden build 'Bustees' (shanty communities) are unsafe and unsanitary, people told us that 1 or 2 children die a month from diseases and there are regular deaths from fires. But this is just the beginning.The mining & power projects are poisoning the environment. Every day 60,000 tonnes of flyash is dumped into the Rihand resevoir contaminating the water supply. The whole area is choked as flyash is transported in open top trucks. Old landfill sites can be seen crumbling under the weight of the ever mounting flyash. When we fisrt appraoched the Rihand dam we thought it was a sandy wasteland, only to be told “that white stuff, is water”.
Singrauli emits 175 Kg of mercury every year and ranks among the top ten poluting areas in India.People are dying from illness related to mercury and lead poisoning, Mr Agarawal (seen in thefilm) told us after the interview that his 30 year old daughter had died the previous month from liver cancer. The majority of people have gastrointestinal problems. There are no figures available, no acknowledgment or health monitoring of the inhabitants of Singrauli. No sign of WHO, no advocacy for these victims of development.
The temperature of this area is 5% higher than surrounding areas, thunder and lightning occurs almost daily, this we were told is due the output of the power plants. It has been estimated that this area accounts for 0.5% oftotal CO2 output of the world each year. Nobody seems to be interested. The World Bank continues to fund new projects despite the destruction caused by existing ones. The World Bank have been found to have broken their own policies for the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of Indigenous Peoples. In this film, you will see the World Bank resettlement project in Singrauli. World Bank projects have no regard for humanity or respect for our world environmentally.
Ammendment:
In the film the during the discussion with Mr Agarawal the amount of coal used daily is 1.5 million tonnes not 1.5 tonnes as we translated sorry.
http://www.singrauli.com
http://www.pollutedplaces.org/region/south_asia/India/singrauli.shtml
http://www.cpcb.nic.in/app2001find.htm
http://www.ciel.org/Publications/prsing.html
http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/mm1295.06.html
http://hrw.org/english/docs/1998/04/21/india1083.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mpeb132kvsubstationmorwa/singrauli.html
srijanlokhisamit@yahoo.com
neetisamvad@rediff.com
newskootchakra@yahoo.com
mahendra443@hotmail.com
ashoktiwari@ashoktiwari.com
Britain is a nation of tea drinkers, but what goes in to that cup of tea we all love. Tea plantations are predominately owned by British multinational companies, for example, Finlays, Brooke Bond, Duncan and Duncan. In Sri Lanka, we recently visited two plantations and were disgusted and saddened by workers conditions.
Tea pickers are women paid 121 rupees (80 pence) a day for collecting 15kg of tea. Shifts are 8am-12 noon, 2pm-4pm, tea collected is weighed per individual and the worker is paid accordingly, ie, fast pickers can earn an extra 3 rupees per extra kg (1.5 pence). Though 65% of tea plantation labour workforce are tea pickers they account for only 30% of the total costs of production.
Pickers carry bags supported by the head causing neck and back strain, there is no sick pay. A cycle of poverty is maintained by company operations. Housing and small/shared plots of land are given to workers for agriculture, a system not dissimilar to that of feudal landlords. One plantation had a small basic health clinic and creche facilities. However another had no such service. A dispensary was reported to be in the village which gives paracetomol and 'coloured water' for every ailment.
So called 'Lines' plantation housing, seen by the company as a workers benefit, was inadequate and overcrowded. 4 or 5 houses in a block can house up to 40 people in extended families, each house no bigger than an average British garden shed. These families live in squallor with little sanitation -- one toilet per block, and one outside tap, with an unclean water supply.
Workers earn barely enough to feed/clothe themselves. A diet of rice and vegetables is only affordable. A bag of rice costs 45 rupees (nearly half a days wages). Fruit is too costly, meat and fish is eaten once a month on pay day.
Tea plantations are in mountainous areas where the climate is cold (and wet during the monsoons). All the children I met were full of cold and coughing. Poor health, poor diet, cold/damp housing and working like dogs all day, some workers resort to drinking 'arrack' a coconut spirit, to warm themselves. Alcohol abuse is reported by company supervisors to be the downfall of these people. Workers cannot AFFORD THE TEA THEY ARE PICKING, BEING GIVEN THE DUST SWEEPINGS OFF THE FLOOR from the lowest grade tea.
The major union representing planatation workers is the Ceylon Workers Congress. It has had ministerial postions in 4 governments since 1977. Its leaders live like kings in Colombo (capital of Sri Lanka) whilst the workers live in squallor.
This film highlights the exploitation of these workers but also shows attempts to organise new fighting unions. One way to fight the corrupt CWC has been to try to develop plantation workers centres providing free education and basic healthcare.
You can help the plantation workers centre by:
financially contributing to the plantation workers centre -- this is not an NGO and and will be run by workers and the union
paying a visit to the multinationals involved -- drop by their offices for a chat, buy a share and tell the shareholders how it is
ask your union to get hold of a copy of the film to show at your next meeting/conference (using the email address below)
if you have an 'indy' film night contact us for copy of the film and have a collection
The tea we drink in Britain is the lowest grade tea, blended for instant teabags, and we pay extortionate prices. So who's making the money and screwing us all, workers and consumers??
conact: plantationsupport@riseup.net
trollyd have been on tour...along with 200,000 other activitsts we travelled to the french/swiss border to quarantine the murderers and bandits of the g8...see munki rant and you can download our film of the trip [download]
muke
sheffield’s trollyd sound system crew began their mayday protest in barkers pool at 6.30pm playing... Not In Our Name by Saul Williams on a loop...after ten minutes we were directed to the town hall by two police... and told if we didn't go we would be arrested...the danger being we might start a rave...
we wheeled off to park up under the arched entrance of the town hall... the potential ravers (young skaters?) following...
at 8pm a small posse of anti nazi league persons arrived with the intention of preventing the B.N.P candidates entering the town hall for vote counting...we decide to join them...
word shot round saying we were in the wrong place..B.N.P were arriving at city hall... off we set to wait with our dancing smiling baton twirling entourage escorting us beats bouncing off the buildings either side...
at 9pm two B.N.P candidates arrived who were immediately surrounded by protesters and forced away from the entrance to angry chants of nazi scum ...the two police protecting them were very quickly reinforced by around fifty more in riot vans who immediately began shoving protesters away from the B.N.P and entrance to city hall...the trollyd crew were attacked...two were grabbed and thrown against the wall...police angrily told one he was under arrest... however was soon de-arrested...
as the police outnumbered the protestors trollyd posse decided to call it a day.
FUK THA POLICE
mrs moodle
trollyd crew turned out with more than 2000 other people at CIA central (n yorks that is).
the day began with an inspection of our weapons of mass pleasure by mirror shaded plod carrying automatic rifles... we want to search the van under the terrorism act... we were informed... we weren’t gonna argue...sure officer.
we could tell it was gonna be a mad day as we were passed by a bloke with his head wrapped in foil with a ball on the top... damn crazy peaceniks...
when we got to the main gate we stood and listened to people saying stuff [some quite interesting] and watched as kites of all shapes and sizes... balloons... reflector strips and mirrors all target the evil base.
some bloke sez to me ...you sheffield lot don’t ’alf make some noise ...sheffield samba crew come stomping past right on cue proving him right...
then we were off round the base... soon we were into the first mass tresspass with trollyd’s new bnb04 mix [bush-buster] [download] providing the soundscape for the peaceniks and direct action crews to get bizzy.
again and again breeches of the outer fence happened... but the plod were more than ready for frontal assaults on the main perimeter.
big up to the menwith muppet massive—keep it surreal.
big middle finger up to nightstick weilding... ooh my number’s fallen off plod.
and a massive thanks to all people who donated to trollyd aid and helped us push the beast.
we’ll be out in shef for m29 see you there.
muke
...and yea we were back again joining around 100 chalking peaceniks at the top of fargate... despite the lower turn out trollyd crew were still well appreciated.
we opted for a live set... dex.. laptop the works and the peaceniks lapped it up.
big up to safe and mate who turned up with tunes they had just bought and handed them over.
nice1.
muke
5.00pm trollyd turned out at the town hall and the crowd were lively and up 4 it. within 30 minutes the trollyd crew were challenged by another anti-war protester...people have died in iraq, we should not be dancing... musik from trollyd was inappropriate. the protester was reminded that trollyd was our anti-war protest, using an alternative medium to express ourselves and communicate to others. different strokes 4 different folks.
the sheffield samba band turned up... they’d been at it all day... what stamina! brilliant as ever!
the march went down to park square at 6ish, trollyd took 20–30 protesters, dancing down the streets towards the moor, disrupting traffik to the calendar studio [nb for out of sheffielders: yorkshire tv local news prog]... the lads and lasses were great, makin’ noise and negotiating with calender news staff whom informed us to return tomorrow for filming... nice one you lads who went in!!
bak 2 the town hall, more protesters joined us dancing down fargate to meet up with the rest of the march. i’m no good with numbers... but there was loads of us, disrupting trams by marching and dancing down the tram traks.
at park square roundabout, the march filled all lanes at the bottom of the parkway, stopping all traffik for 30 minutes before lazily moving on up to the town hall again. trollyd set up in the peace gardens and played until 9.00pm.
big loveliness to all who put money in the trolly aid box. much appreciated... it covered costs 4 parking the van, photocopying anti-war information.
nice 2 c the lads who were with us in london on 15.02.03 demo.
c u all again 2moro.
munki
this page for a start.
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@ [anti-copyright] 2003 • last update • 012 • 13 august 2003