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Politics of Pollution
The Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park, which is expected to come up in Tundurru village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, is being resisted by the local residents. This resistance stems out of the local populace’s concerns regarding the pollution that would be caused by the upcoming factory, and its adverse effects on the health, natural resources and livelihoods of the people. The use of violent repressive measures by the government to quell the protests against the project posits the upcoming industry as a product of the state–corporate nexus, with no concern for the health, well-being or prosperity of the people it claims to serve.
An earlier version of this article was presented at the Ninth Biennial Conference conducted by the Indian Society for Ecological Economics, titled “Sustainability, Institutions, Incentives: Voices, Policies and Commitments.” The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for the invaluable comments and suggestions, as also the respondents during his fieldwork for their kind cooperation.
The case of the Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park (GMAFP), in Tundurru village of Bhimavaram mandal, located in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, is yet another typical example of state and corporate nexus, which is explicitly evident in the nature of events that have occurred/are occurring. This case has multiple stakeholders and different interest groups, the most important of them being the management of the GMAFP, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-ruled Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the central government, other opposition political parties, civil society groups and local residents near the project site. In the following sections, the characteristics of each of these actors and a detailed analysis of their
actions is provided. The methodology employed is qualitative, with methods such as in-depth interviews and content analysis of policy documents and other classified documents from the state and its institutions. Documents pertaining to the resistance against the project in question were also analysed.
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