By Sujeet Kumar & Siddesh Mayenkar
RAIPUR/MUMBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - India's central Chhattisgarh state is looking at banning iron ore exports, a move that could further tighten supply of the steelmaking material and push prices even higher.
Chhattisgarh joins the Orissa state in seeking a ban on exports by state-run miners.
The southern Karnataka state, which accounts for a quarter of India's annual exports of around 100 million tonnes, has banned exports since July last year, restricting supply from the world's No. 3 iron ore exporter.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told Reuters on Friday he was "strongly in favour of putting an immediate ban" on iron ore exports from the state and had informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about it, saying the state wanted the supplies for domestic use to boost jobs.
A ban on exports was one of Raman Singh's election promises in 2003, but this is the first time he has formally sought a ban. State-run NMDC (NMDC.BO) is the only iron ore miner in Chhattisgarh and any ban must come from the federal government.
"A lot of the upside in prices is largely due to restriction on iron ore coming out of India and this news can only accentuate this," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity analyst at ANZ Bank in Melbourne.
"It's a bad time of the year to be talking about banning material out of India when you've got Australian iron ore also restricted by the cyclone season."
Iron ore prices have risen around 13 percent this year, adding to gains of more than 40 percent in 2010.
"There is no justification for the ban. In fact most of the iron ore from Chhattisgarh is used by local steel mills, and very less quantity gets exported from here," said David Pichamuthu, head of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries' southern region based in Bangalore.
He sees only a "slight impact on prices".
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Chhattisgarh's prime farm lands caught in 'power' grab
By Sujeet Kumar
Raipur, March 2 (IANS) India may soon lose about 40,000 acres of prime double-crop agriculture land to dozens of upcoming power projects in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district, farmers and activists allege while the government insists that efforts will be made to spare private farming land.
Janjgir-Champa district has nearly 80 percent of its land under irrigation and has a track record of producing 34-35 quintals of paddy from a hectare compared to the average 16-17 quintals per hectare in other districts of central India.
But in the next three to five years, the district will become India's power hub as the state government has signed 34 separate contracts with power companies to set up coal-fired plants there.
If the deals are fully implemented, this district alone will generate over 40,000 MW of power.
In the process, these projects will eat up not less than 40,000 acres of the country's best cultivated fertile land.
However, Chief Minister Raman Singh has said the state government will try to ensure that maximum government land is made available for these projects in a bid to spare prime private farm land.
Navneet Singh, a farmer from Nariyara village, knows what is happening from up close. His four-acre double-crop land has been taken over by one of the power companies that plans a 3,600 MW plant in the village.
"I can't understand the logic of allowing power companies to start projects on prime agriculture land. This decision (to give land to power plants) will destroy the happy life of thousands of farmers," Singh rued.
About 150 villagers were cane-charged and arrested in January while protesting against alleged forcible land acquisition by companies.
The protest has now spilled over to other areas of Janjgir-Champa.
Jawahar Dube, a former legislator who launched a protest campaign in the district against what he calls "loot of prime land by industries", said: "The power companies' agents are forcibly acquiring farmers land at throwaway prices. If this is not stopped urgently, thousands of farmers' families will be forced to prefer suicide deaths in a few years."
The feeling is shared by Raghuveer Singh, district panchayat member.
He said: "Wherever you go in the district, you will find company agents working out land deals with innocent farmers. Surprisingly the government is silent."
What is the need for allowing about three dozen power plants in a single district that has 80 percent agricultural land producing high yield, he asked.
According to Singh, the farmers feel that the government has targeted the lands of Janjgir-Champa only because "it's the only district in Chhattisgarh completely free from Maoist trouble and the companies will face no problems."
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi told IANS: "It's a blind favour given to industries at the cost of farmers' interests. The state government is so blind to prefer power plants that it handed over the dam Rogda to a private company.
"I went to several villages in the district recently to join local people's protests against power plants and I found the farmers were upset with the state government for such a foolish move."
However, Raman Singh, who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government since December 2003, remained positive that the land deals will not affect the farmers.
"For one thing, signing a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with a number of power companies and the actual implementation of all the MoUs are different subjects. I don't think every company that has signed the MoU will get coal linkage or coal block from the government of India because it is not available in such large numbers in the district.
"Only those companies that are showing progress on the projects will get land. Also, efforts are made to keep as much double-crop land as possible out of acquisition," Singh had said in an interview to IANS.
But Virendra Pandey, Chhattisgarh's former finance commission chairman, said that almost all the companies that have entered into MoUs are setting up plants.
"According to figures available to me, companies in Janjgir-Champa are acquiring majority of private lands which are all irrigation-covered double-crop."
He further alleged that "the way the state government has planned to offer high fertile farm land to industries, no one can stop Janjgir-Champa from becoming India's most polluted district in the next five years."
(Sujeet Kumar can be contacted at sujeet.k@ians.in)
For clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at
91-11-39400100, 30617900
Mobile: +91-9873188969
or mail us at support@ians.in
Raipur, March 2 (IANS) India may soon lose about 40,000 acres of prime double-crop agriculture land to dozens of upcoming power projects in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district, farmers and activists allege while the government insists that efforts will be made to spare private farming land.
Janjgir-Champa district has nearly 80 percent of its land under irrigation and has a track record of producing 34-35 quintals of paddy from a hectare compared to the average 16-17 quintals per hectare in other districts of central India.
But in the next three to five years, the district will become India's power hub as the state government has signed 34 separate contracts with power companies to set up coal-fired plants there.
If the deals are fully implemented, this district alone will generate over 40,000 MW of power.
In the process, these projects will eat up not less than 40,000 acres of the country's best cultivated fertile land.
However, Chief Minister Raman Singh has said the state government will try to ensure that maximum government land is made available for these projects in a bid to spare prime private farm land.
Navneet Singh, a farmer from Nariyara village, knows what is happening from up close. His four-acre double-crop land has been taken over by one of the power companies that plans a 3,600 MW plant in the village.
"I can't understand the logic of allowing power companies to start projects on prime agriculture land. This decision (to give land to power plants) will destroy the happy life of thousands of farmers," Singh rued.
About 150 villagers were cane-charged and arrested in January while protesting against alleged forcible land acquisition by companies.
The protest has now spilled over to other areas of Janjgir-Champa.
Jawahar Dube, a former legislator who launched a protest campaign in the district against what he calls "loot of prime land by industries", said: "The power companies' agents are forcibly acquiring farmers land at throwaway prices. If this is not stopped urgently, thousands of farmers' families will be forced to prefer suicide deaths in a few years."
The feeling is shared by Raghuveer Singh, district panchayat member.
He said: "Wherever you go in the district, you will find company agents working out land deals with innocent farmers. Surprisingly the government is silent."
What is the need for allowing about three dozen power plants in a single district that has 80 percent agricultural land producing high yield, he asked.
According to Singh, the farmers feel that the government has targeted the lands of Janjgir-Champa only because "it's the only district in Chhattisgarh completely free from Maoist trouble and the companies will face no problems."
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi told IANS: "It's a blind favour given to industries at the cost of farmers' interests. The state government is so blind to prefer power plants that it handed over the dam Rogda to a private company.
"I went to several villages in the district recently to join local people's protests against power plants and I found the farmers were upset with the state government for such a foolish move."
However, Raman Singh, who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government since December 2003, remained positive that the land deals will not affect the farmers.
"For one thing, signing a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with a number of power companies and the actual implementation of all the MoUs are different subjects. I don't think every company that has signed the MoU will get coal linkage or coal block from the government of India because it is not available in such large numbers in the district.
"Only those companies that are showing progress on the projects will get land. Also, efforts are made to keep as much double-crop land as possible out of acquisition," Singh had said in an interview to IANS.
But Virendra Pandey, Chhattisgarh's former finance commission chairman, said that almost all the companies that have entered into MoUs are setting up plants.
"According to figures available to me, companies in Janjgir-Champa are acquiring majority of private lands which are all irrigation-covered double-crop."
He further alleged that "the way the state government has planned to offer high fertile farm land to industries, no one can stop Janjgir-Champa from becoming India's most polluted district in the next five years."
(Sujeet Kumar can be contacted at sujeet.k@ians.in)
For clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at
91-11-39400100, 30617900
Mobile: +91-9873188969
or mail us at support@ians.in
Friday, April 16, 2010
Caught in crossfire, Chhattisgarh tribes traumatised
By Sujeet Kumar
Dantewada (Chhattisgarh), April 12, 2010 (IANS) Hundreds of impoverished tribal families caught in the crossfire between security forces and Maoists in the vast forested terrain of Bastar are feeling traumatised, with many deserting their homes in anticipation of an intensified conflict.
They fear the area will turn into a "war zone" in the coming weeks after the Maoists massacred 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and one policeman April 6 in Chintalnar forest. "We are leaving our houses, everyone is in a rush to desert their village because all are believe that CRPF may attack Mukram village and other areas of Chintalnar forest where the troopers had a night stay before being killed by 'dadas' (Maoists). Police may think we tipped off the dadas about the CRPF night halt that day," Poriam Bella, an 18-year-old resident of Mukram village, told IANS. Fear runs deep in the minds of these tribals in the 40,000 sq km economically backward Bastar area, of which up to 25,000 sq km is believed to be intensively mined. They are afraid they may be killed by police after being branded as Maoists or by Maoists after being called police informers. An elderly resident of Chintagufa said: "There is no end to our agony. About 50,000 people had been left homeless by Salwa Judum (a government backed civil militia movement launched in June 2005), but life was beginning to look up for a few month as some tribals were beginning to return. "But now a strong rumour that the CRPF may go after civilians for allegedly supporting Maoists has returned to haunt," he said. The feeling of CRPF revenge attacks has also gripped a stretch from Sukma area in Dantewada district on national highway 221 down to Konta towards Andhra Pradesh via Dornapal. Bastar is made up of five districts - Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker - and is known as one of India's most impoverished pockets. "The Bastar region is clearly dubbed as India's nerve centre of Maoist terrorism, up to 25,000 sq km of area is intensively mined, explosives exist six feet below the ground," said Vishwa Ranjan, Chhattisgarh director general of police. He said police has taken out 1,010 mines from the Bastar jungles since 2004 but the rebels have filled it with explosives again.
Dantewada (Chhattisgarh), April 12, 2010 (IANS) Hundreds of impoverished tribal families caught in the crossfire between security forces and Maoists in the vast forested terrain of Bastar are feeling traumatised, with many deserting their homes in anticipation of an intensified conflict.
They fear the area will turn into a "war zone" in the coming weeks after the Maoists massacred 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and one policeman April 6 in Chintalnar forest. "We are leaving our houses, everyone is in a rush to desert their village because all are believe that CRPF may attack Mukram village and other areas of Chintalnar forest where the troopers had a night stay before being killed by 'dadas' (Maoists). Police may think we tipped off the dadas about the CRPF night halt that day," Poriam Bella, an 18-year-old resident of Mukram village, told IANS. Fear runs deep in the minds of these tribals in the 40,000 sq km economically backward Bastar area, of which up to 25,000 sq km is believed to be intensively mined. They are afraid they may be killed by police after being branded as Maoists or by Maoists after being called police informers. An elderly resident of Chintagufa said: "There is no end to our agony. About 50,000 people had been left homeless by Salwa Judum (a government backed civil militia movement launched in June 2005), but life was beginning to look up for a few month as some tribals were beginning to return. "But now a strong rumour that the CRPF may go after civilians for allegedly supporting Maoists has returned to haunt," he said. The feeling of CRPF revenge attacks has also gripped a stretch from Sukma area in Dantewada district on national highway 221 down to Konta towards Andhra Pradesh via Dornapal. Bastar is made up of five districts - Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker - and is known as one of India's most impoverished pockets. "The Bastar region is clearly dubbed as India's nerve centre of Maoist terrorism, up to 25,000 sq km of area is intensively mined, explosives exist six feet below the ground," said Vishwa Ranjan, Chhattisgarh director general of police. He said police has taken out 1,010 mines from the Bastar jungles since 2004 but the rebels have filled it with explosives again.
Maoists kill 75 police in central India attack
By Sujeet Kumar
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
RAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Maoist rebels killed at least 75 police by setting off explosives and firing from hilltops around dense forest in central India on Tuesday, in one of the worst attacks by the insurgents in years.
The ambush by more than 700 Maoist fighters in Chhattisgarh state highlights the strong rebel presence in large swathes of India, especially remote rural areas left out of the booming economy.
Recent attacks on police have raised questions over how well prepared security forces are to tackle the Maoists, especially during a counter-offensive by security forces this year.
"Something has gone very wrong," Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said. "They seem to have walked into a camp or a trap."
Police said the Maoist rebels, who control several areas rich in mineral resources, had retreated into the forest in the Dantewada district of the Bastar region, home to government-owned iron ore miner NMDC Ltd, the largest in India.
Tuesday's attack left mining operations unaffected, but mining officials were rattled.
"There is an absolute panic," S.P. Himanshu Kumar, the deputy general manager of NDMC, frequently attacked by Maoists.
Reinforcements trying to collect the bodies came under fire by the Maoists who had surrounded the area. Two Indian Air Force helicopters were used in a rescue operation.
"This is a big disaster and it shows the paramilitary forces are obviously not trained to tackle the Maoists' rebellion and they don't seem to have enough intelligence," said retired Major General Ravi Arora, editor of Indian Military Review.
Maoists regularly attack rail lines and factories, hurting business potentially worth billions of dollars in mineral-rich and often remote regions. They extort more than $300 million from companies every year, the government says.
"The growing activities of Maoists in Bastar in Chhattisgarh are threatening iron ore mining," said Ashok Surana, head of a leading industrial body, Mini Steel Plant Association.
"The iron ore miners fear that the authorities might end up ceding control of Bastar's ore reserves in five years if the dominance of the area by the insurgents is not checked urgently."
TAKEN BY SURPRISE
The Congress-led government has been accused of failing to deal with the insurgents, and the security issue could be important in several state elections over the next two years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the gravest threat to India's internal security, and voiced his "shock" at Tuesday's attack. The rebels carried out more than 1,000 attacks last year, killing more than 600 people.
The rebels number between 6,000 and 8,000 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.
Tuesday's attack echoed a similar ambush in February, when Maoists caught police off guard in a daylight attack in the state of West Bengal, killing at least two dozen police.
On Sunday, rebels triggered a land mine blast that killed 10 police in the mineral-rich eastern state of Orissa.
Maoists have stepped up attacks in response to an offensive that began late last year in several states, which officials say has for the first time weakened the decades-old movement.
The government has offered peace talks to the Maoists on condition the rebels abjure violence. The Maoists say they want the government offensive to stop first.
Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers and are trying to expand their influence in east, central and southern India. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
RAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Maoist rebels killed at least 75 police by setting off explosives and firing from hilltops around dense forest in central India on Tuesday, in one of the worst attacks by the insurgents in years.
The ambush by more than 700 Maoist fighters in Chhattisgarh state highlights the strong rebel presence in large swathes of India, especially remote rural areas left out of the booming economy.
Recent attacks on police have raised questions over how well prepared security forces are to tackle the Maoists, especially during a counter-offensive by security forces this year.
"Something has gone very wrong," Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said. "They seem to have walked into a camp or a trap."
Police said the Maoist rebels, who control several areas rich in mineral resources, had retreated into the forest in the Dantewada district of the Bastar region, home to government-owned iron ore miner NMDC Ltd, the largest in India.
Tuesday's attack left mining operations unaffected, but mining officials were rattled.
"There is an absolute panic," S.P. Himanshu Kumar, the deputy general manager of NDMC, frequently attacked by Maoists.
Reinforcements trying to collect the bodies came under fire by the Maoists who had surrounded the area. Two Indian Air Force helicopters were used in a rescue operation.
"This is a big disaster and it shows the paramilitary forces are obviously not trained to tackle the Maoists' rebellion and they don't seem to have enough intelligence," said retired Major General Ravi Arora, editor of Indian Military Review.
Maoists regularly attack rail lines and factories, hurting business potentially worth billions of dollars in mineral-rich and often remote regions. They extort more than $300 million from companies every year, the government says.
"The growing activities of Maoists in Bastar in Chhattisgarh are threatening iron ore mining," said Ashok Surana, head of a leading industrial body, Mini Steel Plant Association.
"The iron ore miners fear that the authorities might end up ceding control of Bastar's ore reserves in five years if the dominance of the area by the insurgents is not checked urgently."
TAKEN BY SURPRISE
The Congress-led government has been accused of failing to deal with the insurgents, and the security issue could be important in several state elections over the next two years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the gravest threat to India's internal security, and voiced his "shock" at Tuesday's attack. The rebels carried out more than 1,000 attacks last year, killing more than 600 people.
The rebels number between 6,000 and 8,000 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.
Tuesday's attack echoed a similar ambush in February, when Maoists caught police off guard in a daylight attack in the state of West Bengal, killing at least two dozen police.
On Sunday, rebels triggered a land mine blast that killed 10 police in the mineral-rich eastern state of Orissa.
Maoists have stepped up attacks in response to an offensive that began late last year in several states, which officials say has for the first time weakened the decades-old movement.
The government has offered peace talks to the Maoists on condition the rebels abjure violence. The Maoists say they want the government offensive to stop first.
Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers and are trying to expand their influence in east, central and southern India. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Indian police recount horror of Maoist death-trap
By Sujeet Kumar
RAIPUR, India, July 11, 2007 (Reuters) - The Maoist rebels who shot dead 24 Indian policemen in the jungles of central India disfigured several victims' heads with axe blows and stripped the corpses of shoes and socks, police witnesses said on Wednesday.Fresh details of Monday's grisly gunbattle in Chhattisgarh state emerged from policemen who had survived what they describe as a well-designed ambush by rebels armed with AK-47 automatic rifles and mortars inside a hilly, dense jungle."Initially Maoists had fired a few shots in the air and panicked all of us," a police commander who was part of the 115-strong unit told Reuters by telephone. He wanted his name withheld because he is not allowed to speak to the press."Then there was a brief silence and we all thought that the rebels had run away," he added. "But then all of a sudden they attacked with mortars and AK-47s."Some of the policemen knew the terrain and fled. The rest were trapped, the commander said. Police blame a lack of back-up forces for the number of police deaths that followed.The rebels, part of an insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives since the late 1960s, stole at least five AK-47 assault rifles and more than a dozen other rifles from the dead policemen, police said.Police said they had killed and injured several rebels but were unsure of numbers because the insurgents routinely carry away the bodies of dead comrades after battles.Combing operations were continuing in Dantewada district with larger back-up forces than before but no specific attempt to find the rebels involved in the fighting has been launched, said R.K. Vij, a senior police official in the area.Police were still struggling on Wednesday to identify some of the victims' disfigured and bullet-ridden bodies, carried back to base camp on bamboo and rope stretchers a day after they fell.The bodies would soon be returned to the families for funeral rites.The Maoist rebels, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of millions of poor peasants and landless labourers.They operate in a large swathe of India stretching from the east to some southern states, and focus their attacks on government officials and property.
RAIPUR, India, July 11, 2007 (Reuters) - The Maoist rebels who shot dead 24 Indian policemen in the jungles of central India disfigured several victims' heads with axe blows and stripped the corpses of shoes and socks, police witnesses said on Wednesday.Fresh details of Monday's grisly gunbattle in Chhattisgarh state emerged from policemen who had survived what they describe as a well-designed ambush by rebels armed with AK-47 automatic rifles and mortars inside a hilly, dense jungle."Initially Maoists had fired a few shots in the air and panicked all of us," a police commander who was part of the 115-strong unit told Reuters by telephone. He wanted his name withheld because he is not allowed to speak to the press."Then there was a brief silence and we all thought that the rebels had run away," he added. "But then all of a sudden they attacked with mortars and AK-47s."Some of the policemen knew the terrain and fled. The rest were trapped, the commander said. Police blame a lack of back-up forces for the number of police deaths that followed.The rebels, part of an insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives since the late 1960s, stole at least five AK-47 assault rifles and more than a dozen other rifles from the dead policemen, police said.Police said they had killed and injured several rebels but were unsure of numbers because the insurgents routinely carry away the bodies of dead comrades after battles.Combing operations were continuing in Dantewada district with larger back-up forces than before but no specific attempt to find the rebels involved in the fighting has been launched, said R.K. Vij, a senior police official in the area.Police were still struggling on Wednesday to identify some of the victims' disfigured and bullet-ridden bodies, carried back to base camp on bamboo and rope stretchers a day after they fell.The bodies would soon be returned to the families for funeral rites.The Maoist rebels, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of millions of poor peasants and landless labourers.They operate in a large swathe of India stretching from the east to some southern states, and focus their attacks on government officials and property.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Chhattisgarh stares at massive health threat - sickle cell anaemia
Sujeet Kumar
Raipur, Aug 26 2009, (IANS) Nearly three million people in Chhattisgarh are said to be suffering from sickle cell anaemia, a genetic disorder that can be life threatening. The state is now screening its entire population in the 3-15 age group to detect the disease early and step up awareness.
The Centre for Genetic Diseases and Molecular Biology, set up by the state government to control the disease, has launched the Chhattisgarh Sickle Cell Screening Project to take blood samples.
'Some 200,000 people have been screened in Raipur district so far and approximately 9-10 percent of the population has been found to be either sickle cell carriers or suffering from the disease. The carrier is basically a heterogeneous gene that has the potential to transmit the disease,' Pradeep Kumar Patra, in-charge of the centre, told IANS.
The government hopes that by screening the 3-15 age group, carriers as well as patients of the disease can be detected early and provided medical care and counselling. Sickle cell anaemia is an incurable disorder.
He said though the disorder is prevalent in all the 18 districts of the state, it is alarming in 10 of them that have a high population of certain Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities and tribes, among whom the disorder is very common.
'The problem in rural areas is that people are not much aware of the disease,' he remarked, adding, 'Chhattisgarh should be considered a 'nucleus' of the sickle cell disorder in India though it is prevalent in its neighbouring states - Maharashtra, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Andhra Pradesh.'
In Chhattisgarh, the disease has attained alarming proportions with more than 50 percent of affected children dying before the age of five and many others in the prime of their youth.
'Though we don't have actual data of patients suffering from sickle cell disease, the estimated figure is up to 15 percent or three million of the state's 20 million population,' S.M.M. Murthy, senior heath official with the Directorate of Health Services, told IANS.
Murthy, who is also the state nodal officer of the government's Sickle Cell Disorder Control Programme since it was launched in late 2004, said: 'Thousands of people in the state are succumbing to sickle cell anaemia annually because most of the patients who live in illiteracy-hit pockets are not turning up at health centres for blood tests and thus end up transmitting the disease to their children.'
A sickle cell patient, Pawan Kumar Sahu, 43, who works as office-secretary, Raipur Press Club, narrates, 'I feel extreme stress in veins, mainly in both legs, and it looks that someone has been inserting a needle hard in my veins, it really creates unbearable pain'.
'Neither of my parents had sickle cell disease nor do my two daughters have it. As far as family history of the disease is concerned, only one cousin suffered from it. I have to regularly get admitted to the hospital when the pain becomes intolerable.
'Last week I was discharged from a hospital, but the pain I felt during the period still haunts me'.
The sickle cell disorder is an inherited genetic lifelong blood disorder characterised by red blood cells assuming an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cell's flexibility and results in a risk of serious complications.
The sickling occurs because of a mutation in the haemoglobin gene. Life expectancy is substantially shortened among patients.
When sickle-shaped cells block small blood vessels, less blood can reach that part of the body. A tissue that does not receive normal blood flow eventually becomes damaged; this is what causes the complications of the sickle cell disease.
(Sujeet Kumar can be contacted at sujeet.k@ians.in)
Raipur, Aug 26 2009, (IANS) Nearly three million people in Chhattisgarh are said to be suffering from sickle cell anaemia, a genetic disorder that can be life threatening. The state is now screening its entire population in the 3-15 age group to detect the disease early and step up awareness.
The Centre for Genetic Diseases and Molecular Biology, set up by the state government to control the disease, has launched the Chhattisgarh Sickle Cell Screening Project to take blood samples.
'Some 200,000 people have been screened in Raipur district so far and approximately 9-10 percent of the population has been found to be either sickle cell carriers or suffering from the disease. The carrier is basically a heterogeneous gene that has the potential to transmit the disease,' Pradeep Kumar Patra, in-charge of the centre, told IANS.
The government hopes that by screening the 3-15 age group, carriers as well as patients of the disease can be detected early and provided medical care and counselling. Sickle cell anaemia is an incurable disorder.
He said though the disorder is prevalent in all the 18 districts of the state, it is alarming in 10 of them that have a high population of certain Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities and tribes, among whom the disorder is very common.
'The problem in rural areas is that people are not much aware of the disease,' he remarked, adding, 'Chhattisgarh should be considered a 'nucleus' of the sickle cell disorder in India though it is prevalent in its neighbouring states - Maharashtra, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Andhra Pradesh.'
In Chhattisgarh, the disease has attained alarming proportions with more than 50 percent of affected children dying before the age of five and many others in the prime of their youth.
'Though we don't have actual data of patients suffering from sickle cell disease, the estimated figure is up to 15 percent or three million of the state's 20 million population,' S.M.M. Murthy, senior heath official with the Directorate of Health Services, told IANS.
Murthy, who is also the state nodal officer of the government's Sickle Cell Disorder Control Programme since it was launched in late 2004, said: 'Thousands of people in the state are succumbing to sickle cell anaemia annually because most of the patients who live in illiteracy-hit pockets are not turning up at health centres for blood tests and thus end up transmitting the disease to their children.'
A sickle cell patient, Pawan Kumar Sahu, 43, who works as office-secretary, Raipur Press Club, narrates, 'I feel extreme stress in veins, mainly in both legs, and it looks that someone has been inserting a needle hard in my veins, it really creates unbearable pain'.
'Neither of my parents had sickle cell disease nor do my two daughters have it. As far as family history of the disease is concerned, only one cousin suffered from it. I have to regularly get admitted to the hospital when the pain becomes intolerable.
'Last week I was discharged from a hospital, but the pain I felt during the period still haunts me'.
The sickle cell disorder is an inherited genetic lifelong blood disorder characterised by red blood cells assuming an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cell's flexibility and results in a risk of serious complications.
The sickling occurs because of a mutation in the haemoglobin gene. Life expectancy is substantially shortened among patients.
When sickle-shaped cells block small blood vessels, less blood can reach that part of the body. A tissue that does not receive normal blood flow eventually becomes damaged; this is what causes the complications of the sickle cell disease.
(Sujeet Kumar can be contacted at sujeet.k@ians.in)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
India Maoists extort $60 mln/yr in mineral-rich state
By Sujeet Kumar
RAIPUR, India, July 9 (Reuters) - India's Maoist rebels are extorting up to $60 million annually from business and industry across Chhattisgarh state, home of one of India's largest mineral reserves, the state's chief minister said on Thursday.
The Maoists have recently stepped up attacks against police, officials and civilians away from remote rural areas and closer to towns and cities across India -- a worry to potential investors as the country grapples with the global slowdown.
"Maoists extort a whopping sum of at least 250-300 crore rupees ($50-60 million) annually in Chhattisgarh," the state's chief minister, Raman Singh, told reporters.
State business leaders and politicians are jittery over Chhattisgarh, whose violence-wracked Bastar region is home to 20 percent of India's iron ore stocks and has attracted big hitters like Tata Steel (TISC.BO) and the Essar Group [ESRG.UL].
The extortion operation stretches from the state's southern tip near Bastar to the northern area of Surguja, which is rich with coal, he said.
The rebels demand cash from traders of Tendu patta, used to make hand-rolled cigarettes, mining firms, contractors and transporters, he said, adding many are scared to go to police.
The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and the landless, feed off local resentment against industry and government in one of India's least developed states.
Businesses and politicians fear the mineral reserves in Bastar, where Tata Steel plans to build a steel plant, could fall into Maoist hands within a few years.
Steel is a key sector to India's economic growth, which has slowed to around 7 percent compared to 9 percent or more per year before the global financial crisis bit.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Maoist army of 22,000 fighters is one of the greatest threats to India's internal security.
The rebels killed 721 people, including members of the security forces, in 2008, mainly in India's eastern and central states known as the "red corridor", up from 696 in 2007.
RAIPUR, India, July 9 (Reuters) - India's Maoist rebels are extorting up to $60 million annually from business and industry across Chhattisgarh state, home of one of India's largest mineral reserves, the state's chief minister said on Thursday.
The Maoists have recently stepped up attacks against police, officials and civilians away from remote rural areas and closer to towns and cities across India -- a worry to potential investors as the country grapples with the global slowdown.
"Maoists extort a whopping sum of at least 250-300 crore rupees ($50-60 million) annually in Chhattisgarh," the state's chief minister, Raman Singh, told reporters.
State business leaders and politicians are jittery over Chhattisgarh, whose violence-wracked Bastar region is home to 20 percent of India's iron ore stocks and has attracted big hitters like Tata Steel (TISC.BO) and the Essar Group [ESRG.UL].
The extortion operation stretches from the state's southern tip near Bastar to the northern area of Surguja, which is rich with coal, he said.
The rebels demand cash from traders of Tendu patta, used to make hand-rolled cigarettes, mining firms, contractors and transporters, he said, adding many are scared to go to police.
The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and the landless, feed off local resentment against industry and government in one of India's least developed states.
Businesses and politicians fear the mineral reserves in Bastar, where Tata Steel plans to build a steel plant, could fall into Maoist hands within a few years.
Steel is a key sector to India's economic growth, which has slowed to around 7 percent compared to 9 percent or more per year before the global financial crisis bit.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Maoist army of 22,000 fighters is one of the greatest threats to India's internal security.
The rebels killed 721 people, including members of the security forces, in 2008, mainly in India's eastern and central states known as the "red corridor", up from 696 in 2007.
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