When the Modi government came to power in 2014, it was expected that the eco-fascists, who have harmed the growth of the country since decades would be sidelined. However, sidelined by the union government, the eco-fascist set new targets- the weaker state governments. In the last few years, two large projects–Sterlite Plant in Tamil Nadu and Aarey metro shed in Maharashtra–were sacrificed due to the activities of eco-fascists.
The development-oriented people of the country were of the view that once the Modi government comes to power, the welfare of millions of people would not be sacrificed for the entrenched interest of a few elites. But, this is exactly what happened first in Tamil Nadu and later in Maharashtra.
Almost one and a half year after the Sterlite incident, the eco-fascist succeeded in the closure of the construction of metro shed for the 33.5 KM Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ line at Aarey milk colony in November 2019. They had started the protests earlier, but the Fadnavis government had not paid heed despite Shiv-Sena’s support to them.
However, the very next day after Uddhav sworn in as the CM of the crooked alliance, the government stopped the construction of the shed to see for alternatives. Now, the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has decided to shift the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro car shed from the Aarey milk colony to Kanjurmarg. The Aarey Metro car shed plan was scrapped by the government despite the fact that a four-member expert committee, appointed by the Chief Minister himself in January this year, advised against the move.
The government committee constituted by the Thackeray government argued that shifting of the car shed from the Aarey milk colony would lead to a cost escalation of 4,000 crore rupees. But it seems that this amount of taxpayer’s money is too small for Aaditya Thackeray’s ego, who is the Environment Minister in his father’s cabinet.
400 crore rupees of the taxpayer money was already spent on the project, therefore, by putting the project on stay for almost a year has cost the government around 1300 crore rupees. And now 4,000 crore rupees of cost escalation is also being estimated due to the shifting of the project. So, the total money wasted by the Thackeray government to satisfy their ego is around 5,700 crore rupees and at least one to a two-year delay in the completion of the Bandra-SEEPZ line.
The poor Mumbaikars who spent 2-3 hours of their daytime in Mumbai Local would have to wait for 1-2 years more to get the comfortable metro, thanks to eco-fascists and the Uddhav government.
Prior to this, the Sterlite plant which used to produce almost 40 per cent of India’s total copper, and enabled India to become a net exporter of the essential metal, was closed in February 2018 due to the protests from China supported environmental activists. It has been more than two years since the closure of the plant and India’s arch enemies, China and Pakistan, are benefiting, as their export of copper has increased exponentially.
India was a net exporter earlier, but China has become a net exporter of copper and Aluminium to India in the last two years due to closure of Sterlite power plant. In FY 20, India imported copper worth 5 billion dollars, 45 per cent of which came from China and other East Asian countries like Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The protests against the Sterlite copper plant were financed by the Chinese companies which were not being able to compete with high-quality, efficient, and cheap metal produced at Vedanta’s plant-based in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, these companies financed local environmental organizations and churches to stage a protest against the plant on environmental concerns.
Majority of India’s copper exports went to China (75 per cent) and Taiwan (13 per cent). The closure of Sterlite’s plant benefitted Chinese companies which were earlier facing tough competition from Indian exports. Given the better quality of Indian products, Chinese consumers preferred Indian copper and this harmed the interest of the Chinese companies.
After the closure of the plant, India became a net importer of copper, that too from China, where India exported 75 per cent of its copper when Vedanta’s plant was operational. Therefore, Chinese companies earned billions of dollars with the closure of the plant by meeting the domestic demand and foreign demand, and India’s interests were compromised, thanks to eco-fascist NGOs.
Both incidents in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra show that eco-fascists still enjoy considerable influence despite the Modi government effort to weed them out. These jobless activists who survive on foreign money do massive harm to common people of India by influencing dimwits like Thackeray or blackmailing the weak government in Tamil Nadu.
