To,
The Member Secretary,
Manipur Pollution Control Board
Imphal, Manipur
(Through the Deputy Commissioner, Churachandpur , Manipur)

Subject: Objection regarding the Public Hearing to be held at Sibapukhrikhal Community
Hall, Sibapukrikhal, Tipaimukh Sub-Division, Churachandpur District on 21th November 2012.

Sir,
I, the undersigned Secretary General of the Zomi Human Rights Foundation have the right to object the proposed public hearing to be held at Sibapukhrikhal Community Hall, Sibapukrikhal, Tipaimukh Sub-Division, Churachandpur District on 21th November 2012 in the interest of the Indigenous Tribal Peoples on the following grounds:

That, the discreet agreements signed for Oil Exploration by M/s Jubilant Oil and Gas Pvt Ltd between Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources, Government of India were incomprehensible. Why are the local villages concerned and the hill people in general, not fully intimated regarding the agreement between the government and the private company?.

That, the discreet agreements between the parties was signed without obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of the Indigenous People. The Hill Indigenous People who according to the Manipur Hills Regulation Act of 1947 were the true and rightful owner of the Land. The Hill Areas Committee, Manipur (HAC), a Constitutional Body under Article 371 C of the Indian Constitution was neither consulted at the time of signing the agreement even though the Indian Constitution had mandated a consultation with the Hill Areas Committee for any measure that shall affect the interest and affairs of the Hills of Manipur. Furthermore, the grassroots level representatives of the People, the Autonomous District Council of Churachandpur were neither taken into consideration nor consulted. The tacit consent of the Autonomous District Council, for this matter is a pre-requisite and a sine qua non when matters related to the hills in Outer Manipur, which are unsurveyed hill land.

That, Environmental Impact Assessment for the scientific exploration was conducted for six months i.e., November 2011 to February, 2012, during the Manipur General Election, when everyone is busy in exercising their Right to Vote. It was conducted without the participation of the indigenous people concerned. It is pertinent to note that relying on the basis of the EIA, the project would have no impact during the spring and monsoon seasons, when rainfalls is massive in the region. Why is there no environmental impact assessment conducted during the spring and monsoon season? What logic of justice do they imagine we will buy into, when the EIA was conducted by an organisation in the service of the Jubilant Oil and Gas Company rather than in service of the people? What precludes the people from calling their own experts to conduct the EIA, paid from state funds, and experts who have no tie, connection or interest with the Jubilant Oil and Gas Ltd. whatsoever? In other words, why is the EIA not conducted by an impartial, independent body? Why does the EIA presuppose an erroneous view of animal habitation by
equating it with human habitation, when in fact the habitats of humans and animals are diametrically different? Why does it not take into account the fact that most animals are migratory species without any fixed habitat, changing settlements depending on the availability of food, security and shelter and therefore, seldom subsisting in one place? Why does the report claim environmental challenges can properly be mitigated against – without however properly stating the mechanisms by which such mitigation measures will be carried out ? What will be the consequences to damage in the waste water treatment, if that damage occurs in rainy season where the rainwater can carry off the wastes and distribute them elsewhere, thus causing environmental damage? What “specific mitigation measures” are the company proposing for restoration of soil fertility – and whether such measures actually are provably working, and if
working elsewhere, whether they are workable in the present politico-administrative, environmental and social reality of the region. Whether the environmental impacts have been adequately explained to the locals, and whether they truly understand the trade-offs involved? That, the licensing by the Government of India and the Government of Manipur and then the ongoing process of surveying for exploration and extraction conducted by the M/s Jubilant Oil & Gas Pvt Ltd in the Hills of Outer Manipur, particularly in Churachandpur District is against the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent propounded by the various International Human Rights Laws. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 1(i)of the International Labour Organisation Convention 107 have been violated by the discreet act of drawing a licensing agreement and the overt act of surveying for exploration of oil into the land belonging to the Indigenous People. The rights of the Indigenous People to participate in decision making and development as laid down in the United Nations Declaration on the Right of the Indigenous People have been trampled upon, encroached into and violated. The Rights of Indigenous People to their land and culture, tradition and practices must also be respected when a decision that affects their being are in issue. The Impact Assessment is more concerned on the environment rather than the socio-economic and human rights impact.

That the aforementioned concerns of the affected people have not been addressed, can only be explained as being due to the lackadaisical attitude of the companies concerned, and of the government itself, towards the welfare of the people whose lives will be affected; and that the companies, in their uninhibited quest for profit and wealth-generation for themselves, have not the least concern for the well-being of the villagers. We cannot but conclude that the Environmental Impact Report considers the people to be expendable, useful only insofar as they contribute to fulfilling their vested interest – first, by consoling them with small promises, second, by buying their silent consent on the basis of those promises, and third, by them providing the unskilled manpower they need to successfully conduct their operations without incurring too much cost on the companies.

We are therefore forced to conclude that the opportunity costs of allowing exploration in the said regions is far too high – the probable destruction, long-term and short-term, and the sociocultural fall-out, which in all likelihood will occur, is far too great to be exchanged for a few bread, coins and indentured labor.

Every tribal is therefore called upon to oppose, with all their might, power and nerve, any oil exploration of any kind on their land, at least in the near future; to resist and keep resisting till such time we are educated and self-aware of our rights – till all companies far and near who have interest in profiting from exploitation of our land and resources, are prepared to respect these human and indigenous tribal rights.
Dated: Lamka 
The 19th November, 2012

Yours sincerely

(SUANMOI GUITE)
Secretary General
ZHRF,GHQ

Reference No.3/Memo/ZHRF/(2)12
Copy to: 1. Shri O. Ibobi
Chief Minister,
Government of Manipur
Imphal
2. Shri D.S Poonia
Chief Secretary,
Government of Manipur
Imphal
3. Shri Mohan Lal
Deputy Secretary,
General, Vigilance and Administration
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
New Delhi.
4. Relevant File