Villagers’ stir to save Palamu mountain enters 66th day

Ranchi: It’s a battle for hundreds of villagers from Palamu district to save a mountain from becoming a molehill for the last many months.Villagers of Kutmu first began their silent protest on November 18 last year to save the Dhwaja Pahar, a mountain that holds immense cultural significance. Even as their protest under the banner of Dhwaja Pahar Bachao Samiti entered the 66th day on Saturday, the state government and the local district administration have ignored their demands, the protesters said.According to the protesters, the mountain has come under immense stress because of illegal stone quarrying by the local mafia and despite numerous pleas before different authorities, no action has been taken up.A month later after they began their strike, several groups have extended support and since December 18, about 20 villagers on a rotational basis are taking up fast from dawn-to-dusk while others provided support by singing bhajans and kirtans to pursue their demand.

Sanjay Paswan

, the president of the protest group, accused the government of failing to safeguard the jal, jungle and

jameen

(water, forest and land), one of the major poll planks of the JMM-Congress-RJD mahagathbandhan for the 2019 assembly polls. Paswan said, “Dhwaja Pahar has been the source of water to a local river here and provided food to hundreds of cattle owners and is ecologically important for the environment. Many villagers also worship the trees and the mountains here as part of their nature worship tradition. However, rampant stone quarrying in the last couple of years is now threatening to convert this mountain into a molehill. How will we survive?”

Jugal Pal

, a supporter of the protest, said such rampant and illegal activities led to the demolition of 50 mountains in the Chatterpur block. “We won’t allow that to happen here,” he said, adding that the protesters are holding peaceful agitation by blocking the approach roads the mountains to stop the movement of trucks or tractors carrying stone chips. “Today is the 66th day of our protest and our fight will continue till our demands are met,” he said.According to

Pal

, a construction company and their contractors have got the lease for quarrying on a different plot but kept quarrying from the mountain in a clandestine manner. “During our recent scrutiny, it was found that the company had got the lease for plot number 1,046. This mountain is located on plot number 1,048. We want punitive action against the erring contractors, cancellation of their lease and strict measures to save the mountain,” he added.