Photo Essay

On the plateau above this high village the landscape is cluttered by WEGs. The village of Kadre Kurd was not consulted or informed by the companies about the construction of the WEGs. The villagers only found out when they saw them being built. The village has since filed a lawsuit against the company. Bharat Forge is a flagship company of the Kalyani Group worth USD 1.25 billion. This company builds engine and chassis components and is the largest Indian exporter of automobile parts. Bharat Forge Limited receives financing through the CDM for the ‘4.2 MW small-scale wind power project’ above the Kadre Kurd community. Other companies in the area include: Entercom, which receives CDM credits for WEGs in other regions of India and Lingem Manchine.

The villagers have documents dating back to colonial times that demonstrate their land rights. They attempted to stop the WEGs from being built but the company used police force to intimidate people and stop the resistance. They warned the villagers not to enter or they would be accused of stealing if caught. Shivaam Ahame, a local villager, was caught and afterwards he began the court case against the company. He was later threatened and after resuming the court case he was told he would be murdered if he continued. He fled for 2 months after which he received help from other political groups and has now gone back to the village. The village has been continuing with the court case for five years.

“We showed our documents to the company for our rights to the land and the company then showed us the ‘deed of sale’ to the land. This document was signed from someone in Pune and it is a faulty document because no one in the village ever agreed to this or signed such a thing. All of us [from the village] tried to stop the construction and the company went to the police station in Tanali and the police would not accept their complaint so they [the company] went to the Umbras police station and filed charges on us for property damage of 50,000 RS and other materials and for stealing windmill materials. The police came at 2am to take 15-20 us to the police station. We were held for three hours but they kept me for one day. [This is when Shivaam began his protest.] The lawyer from the company went to talk to me at the police station but I refused to cooperate and the police got angry. They were going to beat me but I threatened the police and they let me go. The police said that they forgave me and let me free. Later other police officers were sent by the company to the village to threaten my life so I fled the village for 2 months. The company then stopped work for 14 days and hired a lawyer and made new papers. The lawyer stated that in 1981 there was a new land accord that we didn’t know about. I went to the company with the documents and the company offered me 50,000 RS for the land, but I got really suspicious and thought there was something bigger happening and then the company took me to court. I went to the lawyer and sent a notice to the company. They called me, Satura and offered me 35 Lak just to keep quiet, just to keep quiet! I refused and went to court but the company would not go to court and we are still waiting for the court decision.’’

In 2003, the Rural Thesis System (RTS) looked at the case to resurvey the lands.
The villagers are still waiting for the new survey.