[Reader-list] Olive Ridley turtles

[Rohit Shetti]

The letter to Tata as part of the website is disgusting to say the least.
Thankfully it is editable and I think it would be good to be direct and to
the point.

Rgds,

Rohit


On 4/21/08, Tapas Ray <tapasrayx at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sonia,
>
> Thanks for forwarding this release. I agree with you that one need not
> go starry-eyed about Tata. Look at the way it has steamrolled over a
> large section of people unwilling to give up their land in Singur
> (West Bengal), helped by an obliging state government and CPI(M).
>
> A little over a decade ago, as a journalist, I covered the popular
> opposition it was encountering in Gopalpur-on-Sea (Orissa) for its
> plan to set up an integrated steel plant, take over the small local
> port and turn it into a large one, etc. Predictably, the state
> government (of Orissa) was bending over backwards, sending in police,
> to carry out its wishes. There were clashes, roads were dug up, etc.
>
> I believe the company has had - or is going to have - its way despite
> all that resistance ... perhaps more than it had bargained for at that
> time, because later there was talk of an SEZ. As we know, these SEZs
> are nothing but militarised outposts - considering the way their
> administrative structure has been planned - of global capitalism, on
> whose block Tata is now the new kid, and is duly revered for this by
> state governments and political parties across the spectrum in India,
> from Gujarat to West Bengal.
>
> I used to think that the Tata group is an enlightened one, but have
> been rather unsure of that since I saw what they were up to in
> Gopalpur.
>
> A side note - there is a parallel between our SEZs and Shanghai. My
> suggestion to the state and central governments in India: if you want
> to emulate China, don't beat about the bush; just turn the whole
> country into one big Shanghai.
>
> Another side note, this one about Greenpeace: Some months ago, in one
> of their newsletters, they were talking about "green Apple". A couple
> of months later, they realised that Apple wasn't that green after all.
> I think they need to be more careful with their assessment of
> corporations and governments.
>
> Tapas
>
>
> On 21/04/2008, S. Jabbar <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> > From the Greenpeace campaign for the Olive Ridley Turtles.  Not that I
> find
> >  the TATA environmental record that great...
> >
> >
> >  Why Save the turtles?
> >
> >
> >  Consider thisŠ Olive Ridley turtles rely on an inexplicable, in-built
> >  navigation system that guides them, when it¹s time for them to
> reproduce,
> >  back to the precise coast on which they were born.
> >
> >  Now consider something elseŠ The proposed Tata port at Dhamra threatens
> a
> >  nesting site that is amongst the last honeymoon suites for the
> remaining
> >  Olive Ridleys, a highly-endangered species that swims all the way here
> from
> >  places as far away as Australia and the Philippines.
> >
> >  When you consider these two facts together, it seems only logical that
> Tata
> >  would reconsider its decision to build the port at Dhamra, and build it
> in
> >  an area that¹s less ecologically sensitive. It seems especially logical
> when
> >  it¹s Tata we¹re talking about.
> >
> >  After all, Tata has grown from a national giant into an international
> >  player, while constantly stating its commitment to the principles of
> social
> >  upliftment, environmental justice and sustainable development. The Tata
> >  brand is ubiquitous, present in hundreds of products that have
> genuinely
> >  improved the lives of generations of Indians; from the Tata salt that
> >  flavours our daily bread, the Tata BP solar geyser that warms our
> winter
> >  baths, the Tata Telecom that manages our communications, to the Tata
> cars
> >  that Œdrive a billion dreams.¹
> >
> >
> >  And yet, in Orissa, we¹re witnessing a different side to the same Tata.
> A
> >  Tata that shuts its ears to reason. A Tata that looks the other way
> when
> >  confronted with evidence. A Tata that cares nothing for the community,
> and
> >  even less for nature.
> >
> >  The port Tata is proposing to build in Dhamra will directly affect the
> Olive
> >  Ridley turtles. With 150,000 to 350,000 Olive Ridley turtles nesting in
> the
> >  vicinity, the average number of hatchlings is believed to range from 15
> >  million to 35 million.
> >
> >  When confronted by Greenpeace Tata promised concerned citizens that it
> would
> >  abandon the port Œif evidence of turtle presence and the ecological
> >  significance of the area were ever unearthed.¹
> >
> >
> >  The evidence was submitted , but this promise wasn¹t kept. The
> perfunctory
> >  EIA carried out in this area isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
> Another
> >  nesting season has passed us by, with turtle mortality from mechanized
> >  fishing agonizingly high. Coming in addition to this annual death toll,
> the
> >  Tata port could be the final nail in the turtle¹s coffin, ensuring that
> this
> >  area is never safe for turtles again.
> >
> >  Will this willful destruction be the legacy that Tata leaves behind in
> >  Orissa?
> >
> >  Not if you can help it.
> >
> >  Please do what I've done. Write directly to Ratan by clicking here
> >  <http://www.greenpeace.org/india/turtles/write-to-tata>
> >
> >
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