Tata Mundra: Story of a power project among the powerless

Delhi

Mumbai

Gujarat

Tata Mundra: The Project 4,000 MW coal-fired plant located near Mundra Port,

Gujarat India’s first Ultra Mega Power Project using

supercritical technology PROJECT cost of US$4.2 billion to be financed by

equity (US$1 billion) and debt from IFC (US$450 million), ADB (US$450 million), Korean ECAs (US$800 million), local banks (US$1.5 billion)

Will sell electricity to state-owned utilities in 5 states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab

Will import coal from Indonesia and other countries through the Mundra Port (Adani)

Main equipment from Korea and Japan

Impacts: Social

Failure to conduct free, prior, broad and meaningful consultations with communities

Deeply flawed social and environmental impact assessments Project area identified as vacant land in EIA, while the

areas has a high rural population density, and the land having multiple rural economic activities like fishing, fish drying, animal grazing being the main ones.

 Apart from failing in recognizing the fishing communities as affected in the impact assessments, it also failed to recognize salt-pan workers/owners and pastoralists as affected communities.

Social…

Significant and irreversible loss of livelihoods of fisherfolks An Independent Expert Fact Finding team in 2012 found the causes as:

▪  The destruction of creeks and mangroves – nurseries of marine life, ▪ Thermal pollution from the power plants – the warm cooling water

coming out of their outfall channels. ▪ Changing from closed cycle cooling system to open cycle: cutting

corners to increase profits? ▪ Possible death of large number of fish seedling with the pumped intake

water▪ The possibility that chemical pollution is also being discharged along

with the cooling water.▪ The highly salinity due to discharge from the desalination plant

Fishing grounds became highly inaccessible Access routes to fishing and grazing grounds have either been blocked or

unusually lengthened by the Tata’s water channels.

Social…

No employment for locals  While the project is in part premised on improving the living

standard of local communities, only very few locals are employed by the company.

 Impact on horticulture Two important cash crops – Chiku(zapota /sapodilla) and Date

Palms – are badly affected by fly ask and dust since Adani and Tata power plants started. No estimate of the loss.

 Impact on ground water Drawing of massive amounts of water from the precious aquifers

ground water table having gone down fast in the last few years.   Labour Issues and Social Unrest

Large influx of migrant labourers, illegal production and sell of liquor in the area, in a dry state like Gujarat, has sharply increased. Resulted in increase in domestic violence.

Impacts: Environment

Destruction of mangroves  Large tracts of mangroves, dry-land forests and creeks, rich in

biodiversity, and mud-flats were destroyed by the company in the course of its construction activities.

The construction of associated facilities like port (which is being shared with that of the adjacent Adani power project), the inlet water channel (also shared with Adani project) and the outlet water channel caused irreversible damage to the fragile environment.

 Absence of Cumulative Impact Studies  The real impact of the Tata Mundra can be determined only

when a cumulative impact assessment is done, which was never done. In the absence of cumulative impact assessment, companies will dodge the responsibility by passing it on to the other industry while the people will suffer endlessly.

Impacts: Health

Ash Contamination and health issues Fly ash emanated from the project falls on the fish put out for

drying, making it inedible and non-marketable. The fish also will get contaminated with the toxic fly ash falling

on it, making it highly unsafe to consume the ash also falls on the salt pans around the project, which is

one of the highest salt producing areas of India. Fly ash falling on fields and its grass consumed by the animals

put them in danger of serious illness, in some cases, fatal. Exposure to such toxic particles in the air, and the high

pollution resulting out of the Tata and the adjacent Adani project put the people at high health risks.

 Children’s Health at Risk  There is a roughly 20% increase in children’s respiratory

diseases in the past two years, since the CGPL is functioning.

A recent study – Coal Kills (by Greenpeace) – estimate about 100-120 people are killed every year within this region only because of the impact of the thermal power projects in this area.

CGPL is using about 13 million tons of imported coal, putting out nearly 40 million tons of CO2 each year - close to the entire CO2 emission of Bangladesh

Where did IFC go wrong?

IFC failed to independently check the impact assessments made by the company and hence approved this project for financing on wrong assumption about impacts, which were heavily downplayed, and exaggerated benefits.

IFC failed to put in place an independent and competent monitoring system to monitor the impacts and recommend corrective measures. Rather they relied and continue to rely on company’s reporting.

IFC failed to monitor compliance of its social and environment safeguard policies.

Community Demands

IFC uses its leverage to mitigate the impacts caused to the people and environment.

IFC stop its funding to the project, until the social and environmental damages are satisfactorily mitigated.

IFC stop the company from any further expansion of the project unless the damages already caused are mitigated.

IFC stop funding any more coal projects, considering the immense damages it cause.

Current status

 CAO complaint - awaiting ADB complaint under process Tata Mundra trying for expansion by

1600 MW – public hearing opposed Fish catch very low Other projects opposed

Larger issues of IFC lending

 Company using IFC’s lending as a leverage to raise more financing for the project.

Irreversibility - who will pay for the loss?

Between a government who wants to add 800,000 MW by 2032 by any cost, private companies who do not care about people, environment or the law, and international financial institutions who invents new lending models to increase their lending and avoid accountability, to whom should the people turn for justice?

Some Images: Tata Mundra Project under construction

Tata Mundra (left) and Adani sharing resources & negative impacts

Families under the shadow of Tata Mundra

The invisibles: Fisherfolk who were excluded in the assessment

Children who are badly affected by the pollution

Dry Fish which gets contaminated by fly ash

The outlet channel which cut the access to sea

The lives and livelihood of thousands are at stake

Tata Mundra is NOT a green project

Will the sun sets over Tata Mundra?