Why Adani Coalmine Should Be Stopped: An Analysis

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Environmental impact of Adani coalmine

As a matter of specification, coal mining, its transport and burning is harmful for the people. In view of this statement, Business Standard asserts that one of the major issues created by Adani coal mine is the environmental degradation. Protestors are of the opinion that Carmichael coalmine would have been India’s largest coal mine if Adani coal mine have not created huge environmental and financial issues (Stopadani.com 2018). The statement of the protestors indicates the issue of global warming, which damaged The Great Barrier Reef.  According to The Economic Times, 16.5 billion dollars went in vain as Carmichael coalmine project could not be worked upon. The newspaper highlights the opposition of the Protestants in terms of opposing the creation of Adani coalmine. As a matter of specification, the newspaper upholds the concern of Kelly O’ Shanassy, the CEO of Australian conservation Foundation regarding “destruction of every single living thing on the planet Earth” (Economictimes.indiatimes.com 2018).

 The movement Stop Adani coalmine also gave rise to issues such as interplay with the tax obligations in the offshore areas; claims regarding inflating the employments and most importantly corruption. These issues destroyed the close knit unity among the communities, snatching away their basic rights regarding the utilization of the natural resources- lands and waters. Along with this, absence of permission from the local government and the tribes makes Adani coalmine illegal. This aspect highlights the issue of illegal constructions through intrusion into the land of others (Stopadani.com 2018).

Apart from this, the movement has extracted most of the waters from the Great Artesian and the adjacent basins, depriving the farmers from the groundwater needed for the irrigational activities.

If Adani coalmine is created, every living forms of Australia would be ruined. This ruinage would pollute Australia, making it difficult for the inhabitants to breathe fresh air. Therefore, objectives and goals need to be developed for the achievement of positive outcomes in this direction. Mere setting of the goals would not be enough. A strategic framework needs to be created by the activists in terms of making the people aware of the intensity of the harm created by the campaign, Adani coalmine (Stopadani.com 2018).

The main objectives to stop the creation of Adani coalmine can be the following:

• To use environment friendly materials for the development of transport
• To indulge in meetings with the stakeholders regarding the revision in the tax tariffs
• To indulge in meetings with the members of the trade union for dealing with economic instabilities like inflation
• To develop directives for regulating the wastes generated from places like Great Barrier Reef
• To take permission from the local government and the tribes regarding the creation of coalmines
• To seek out measures for conserving waters of Great Artesian and other adjacent basins
• To make plans regarding introducing bills for restoring the rights of the natives regarding the utilization of the lands, water bodies among others.

Uploading the actions undertaken by the activities on the social media makes the resolutions credible to the public domain. Requesting the people to join the movement can be considered as a collaborative attempt in terms of ceasing the creation of the Adani coalmine. Informing the public domain about specific initiatives of the activities enhances the credibility of the Campaign. These aspects align with the statements of The Wire, where the opposition of environmentalists, activists and politicians have been upheld (Thewire.in 2018). Uploading the newspaper clippings on the social media have created a mass appeal upon the youth of Queensland, urging them to make noticeable contributions in stopping the Adani coalmine for taking shape.

Protests and movements against Adani coalmine

 Presentation of the activists’ action in a thrilling manner to the public generates spine chilling feeling among them. Typical example of this is the narration about the massive bleaching of Great Barrier Reef during the presence of Annastica Palaszczuk. The Wire becomes a mouthpiece for reporting the callousness of Palaszczuk in terms of requesting Adani to destroy the Reef. This enraged the activists such as Geoffrey cousins, to revolt against the rising sea temperatures leading to environmental degradation (Business-standard.com 2018). The misleading claims of the media regarding the letter sent to Adani contradict the aspect of credibility. As a matter of specification, these claims aggravate the intensity of conflicts and discrimination between Adani and the natives of Queensland.

Adani mining is a subsidiary of the Adani Group, which has its headquarters in the threshold of India. This Adani mining proposed Carmichael coalmine to be constructed in the north of Galilee Basin in central Queensland. The investments made for this project is 16.5 billion dollars. Queensland government, in collaboration with the Australian Government made important contributions in the project. Delving deep into the power holding, this collaboration was against the G20 commitment to rule out poor quality fossil fuel subsidies. The budget is an evidence of the alliance between the Queensland government and mining industry through the expense of $9.5 billion between the era of 2008-2014 (Economictimes.indiatimes.com 2018). Constraints in the budget reflect the expenses between the mining industries and the other areas such as hospitals and the schools, which are situated in the areas adjacent to the place where the mine is proposed to be constructed. This aspect indicates indulgence of Adani and his team with the administrative of the local schools and hospitals.

Newman Queensland government is also to be counted among the power holders of Adani Group. Initially, the government claimed to oppose the Carmichael project. However, in the era of 2014, Newman Queensland government reduced the royalty rates for the project and proposed to share the investments (Business-standard.com 2018). In response to this, the Labor Opposition criticized the attempts as “blank cheque”. This aggravated the financial instabilities for the Adani group and destroyed the stability in the relationship between the Adani Group and the Labor Opposition Party.

Consideration of all of the above partnerships and alliances, the following held powers towards the formation of the Adani coalmine:

• Queensland government
• New Queensland government
• Labor Opposition Party
• Local schools and hospitals
• Activists, environmentalists and politicians

Queensland government holds the supreme power in this case. This is because Adani group needs to take permission from the government officials for creation of the coalmine. As a sequential step, Adani group personnel are expected to send drafts regarding the proposed budget, impact, results of the coalmine along with the place where the coalmine would be established (Radio.abc.net.au 2018). Next in power is the local tribe, whose consent plays a significant role in the creation of the coalmine. Misleading claims of Adani regarding the consent of the local tribes is a distortion in the hierarchy of power holders.

Partnerships and alliances for Adani coalmine

New Queensland government and the Labor Opposition Party can be considered as the external shareholders for Adani group in terms of the creation of Adani coalmine. These external shareholders stabilized the financial parameter of the Adani group.

Activists and environmentalists are also the power holders of Adani group in terms of protesting against the harmful effects of the coalmine towards the ecological biodiversity. Their personality is enhanced through the creation of mass appeal for preservation of the environment from degrading (Bloomberg.com 2018).

Strategic approach played a major role for the activists in terms of stopping Adani coalmine from taking birth. The activists took the help of the public domain for systematizing the activities related to protests. Typical evidence of this lies in the publications of The Indian Express. According to the reports of The Indian Express, thousands of protestors rallied on the streets of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold coast and Port Doughlas. Placards were prepared for making the people aware of the reasons behind the campaign. Another example of the strategic approach was the formation of STOP ADANI on the sand by the protestants (Indianexpress.com 2018). These actions of protest ignited a spark of critique in the minds of the Opposition parties. Therefore, the next strategy was to tackle the harsh blows of the critics.

The Indian Express projected the statements of campaigner Isaac Astill, who perceived the campaigned as an “international issue”. This internalization can be affirmed due to the rages of the public in terms of their urge to protect the environment. Herein lays the appropriateness of the protestants, holding placards saying coal=CO2!!!. The three exclamation marks reflects the concern of the Australian inhabitants in terms of the degrading condition of the environment as well as the living forms.

Governmental support was one of the greatest strengths for the activists in terms of exposing a strategic approach towards stopping Adani coalmine from taking shape (Indianexpress.com 2018). The major drive behind this is enhancing the economic growth of the country. The environmentalist groups indulged in alliance with the activists for exposing their disinterest towards Adani coalmine. In view of the aggravating intensity of the protests, 13 environmental organizations extended their helping hand towards Adani in their struggle for saving the environment from degradation. This was a fresh start for the Adani Group in terms of tackling the critics and oppositions strategically, as the critics launched a program entitled “Stop Adani Alliance. Typical evidence of this lies in the revelations of the webpage, Bloomberg. 

Power dynamics for Adani coalmine

Spearheading attitude of the leader Bob Brown compelled the personnel of Adani group to re-structure their thinking strategy towards stopping the creation of Adani coalmine. Lack of prior preparation imposed the harsh blows of oppositions on the Adani group (Indianexpress.com 2018). This compelled the government to withdrew supports extended in terms of the benefitting the human good. As a sequential step, the Adani Group indulged in meetings and conferences with the environmentalists, activists, environmentalists and the government officials. The main purpose of this meeting was revision on the rationale behind the creation of the Adani coalmine along with the assessment of its impact on the adjacent areas and the environment as a whole. The below diagram was created in the meeting.

 

Figure 1: Intensity of destruction estimated in response to Adani coalmine

(Source: Stopadani.com 2018)

This picture was sent to the government for their approvals regarding the introduction of conservationist programs. Seeing the intensity of the harmful impact on the environment, the government officials created mass appeals through the social media campaigning. Herein lays the appropriateness of the campaign entitled #STOP ADANI COAL MINE. The next step was updating the outcomes of the campaign on the social media and newspapers for making the public aware of the steps taken towards preservation of the environment (Stopadani.com 2018).

Based on the steps taken by the Adani Group, environmentalists and politicians, the following hart can be prepared:

Figure 2: Strategic mapping for stopping the creation of coalmine

Protests regarding this proposed strategic mapping compelled the environmental activists, politicians and government officials to alter their thoughts and ideas towards the project of Adani coalmine. Lack of prior preparation aggravated the difficulties for the personnel in terms of handling the protests and revolts.

The main aim for developing strategy is to achieve positive results in the business activities. Oriental approach is needed in terms of implementing the proposed strategies. These aspects are also applicable for Adani Group in terms of stopping the creation of the coalmine. The Group personnel indulged in meeting with the stakeholders and shareholders for making effective plans regarding implementation of the proposed strategies. The nature of these meetings was interactive, which provided a platform to the concerned parties regarding voicing out their opinions regarding the protests about the creation of the coalmine (Thehindubusinessline.com 2018).

The Environment Minister was consulted for gaining the approval regarding the creation of the coalmine. This was according to the standards and protocols of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity conservation Act (1991). This approval was challenged by the Mackay Conservation Group in terms of the legality of the proposal regarding the creation of the Adani coalmine. The parties concerned requested the Federal court to give second preference to the approval. This was in terms of approving the conservation plans for the endangered species. Negligence towards conserving the species compelled the personnel to encounter negative outcomes in terms of claims and oppositions on the social media (Stopadani.com 2018). Federal government and the environment minister collaborated upon re-approving the Carmichael mine. Even in this, the critics and oppositions were in full form.

Strategic approach for stopping Adani coalmine

Next plan was to organize activities for preserving the biodiversity. For this, the personnel of Adani executed the exercise of risk assessment. Within this, the personnel identified four endangered species. Here, estimates regarding the addition of more ecosystems were carried out. One of an important part of the implementation process was the offsets by the environment minister under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Protection Act. These offsets were introduced under the condition that necessary action would be carried out somewhere else upon the loss of biodiversity (Stopadani.com 2018). This action would solely include the government officials and the environment ministry. Oppositions by the activitists and politicians were simply negated in terms of protecting the ecological diversity.

In order to protest against these illegal instances, groups were formed. The main motive of these groups was to stop the introduction of any new coal or any substance, which is harmful for the environment. Social media was considered for urging the people to join the movement and make the attempt a collaborative one, for the achievement of positive outcomes. One of the other activities was stopping the financial alliances to Adani by Wespac, NAB and Commbank. With this, the personnel also made plans regarding ceasing the loans, which Adani received from the taxpayers. Alliance with the trade union members assisted the personnel of Adani group in implementing these plans (Stopadani.com 2018). Along with this, alliance with the politicians resulted in making the MPs aware of the fact that exposure of opposition towards stopping the creation of Adani coalmine would snatch the power from them.

One of an innovative planning was film screening. Here, a 30-minute documentary, Guarding the Galilee was shown to the community people free of cost. Website access was provided to the people regarding the documentary. Registration was made mandatory for the community people in terms of preventing the intrusion of opposition party members. The community managers were provided with the choice to select the date, time and venue of hosting the screening. Along with this, the community people were asked to list their screening events for getting the links to the document (Stopadani.com 2018).

Evaluation made the implementation of these strategies possible. Maintenance of consistency in the execution of evaluation highlighted the drawbacks in the undertaken steps.  

One of the major outcome of the campaign was creation of thousands of employment. However, according to the expectations of Harinder Sidhu, Australian High commissioner to India, most of these jobs would come from the localites. Sidhu is full praises regarding the recruitment process of Adani regarding providing equal employment to the localites in comparison to the urban people. This would generate huge spin-offs from the investments made in the coalmine, stabilizing the Australian economy (Thehindubusinessline.com 2018).

Australian Adani CEO,  Jeyakumar Janakaraj highlights the ceremonial celebrations in Townsville to gain the approval of 20,000 localites regarding the creation of the coalmine. Herein, emphasis can be placed on the statements of minister, Coralee O’ Rourke welcomed the approach of the Group towards ensuring the betterment of Sydney region. This appreciation enabled the Group to move towards the next course of action, that is, the provision of placement to more than 1000 native and foreign employees (Thehindubusinessline.com 2018). In spite of these outcomes, the environmentalists are still entrapped within the concerns relating to the future of Great Barrier Reef. The major drive behind these concerns is the Reef would come in between the areas through which coal would be shipped.

Three quarters of the Australians exposed opposition with the government initiatives regarding the achievement of infrastructural development. This opposition was in alignment with the polling results of Stop Adani Alliance campaign. This campaign encountered the conglomeration of 13 conservationists and organizations representing the Australian inhabitants.

The claims regarding the creation of employment for more than 1000 youths strengthened the vision of the environmentalists regarding the increase of carbon emission and degradation of the marine animals in the Great Barrier Reef (Business-standard.com 2018). This opposition compelled the Group to cut down the underground capacity by 38% of the total production. The Group invested 3.3billion dollars for the mine along with the associated railway and ports. The efforts, time and energy behind this investment was nullified by considering the protests as futile. The protests attach an interrogative parameter to the future of Carmichael project.

In view of Adani’s rejection of the protesting campaigns, all the claims regarding the harmful impact of the coalmine is nullified. If the previous statement is considered, doubts still remain, as to why Annastacia Palaszczuk stained the reputation of the group by withdrawing her support publicly?

The latest concern is that the investment cost for the project has been reduced from 60 million tonnes per year to about 25 million tonnes per year. This reduction has necessitated an additional investment of about 2 billion Australian dollars (Theconversation.com 2018). Now, the question arises regarding the capability of Adani Group in terms of being financially capable for establishing a coalmine, without destroying the ecological biodiversity.

Conclusion

This assignment emerges successful in providing an insight into the propositions towards the Carmichael Project by the Adani Group. The protests regarding the creation of Adani coalmine is an obstruction towards the Carmichael project. The major drive behind this is the claims regarding the destruction of every single living form in the Great Barrier Reef and Australia as a whole. Formation of groups by the environmentalists and politicians divided Australians into groups, which actually proved fruitful in terms of exposing a collaborative output towards preventing the environment from losing its greenery. Using the means for social media enhanced the support of governmental officials in terms of adding to the workforce for ensuring the wellbeing of the public domain. Uploading the responses of the people in the websites and social networking sites relates with the credibility towards stopping the establishment of Adani coalmine. Strategic approach in dealing with the protests possesses flexibility in terms of bestowing a sustainable growth for Adani Group.   

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