Nagaland, Meghalaya 2023: Any guesses for the biggest loser this election?

By the time I write my next editorial, three Northeast Indian states – Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya – would have either picked their new government or would be on their way to doing the same. 

But regardless of who wins, I believe we already have the biggest loser in the elections: the environment. 

I was fortunate enough to roam around parts of Tripura and Nagaland during the ongoing election campaigns and it was fascinating to see how political parties and their campaigners were trying to woo voters. From claims of a double-engine government to ending corruption, every party believes it has what it takes to rule the state they are contesting in. 

Yet, the word ‘environment’ barely registered anywhere and on careful assessment, it became clear why that was the case. 

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You see, the state governments are more than aware of how dire the situation is in their states, and they also seem to be aware that they may be helpless in the wake of nature’s fury. Those who follow EastMojo must be aware of the absolute chaos we witnessed in Meghalaya last year during the pre-monsoon and the monsoon season. Landslides became such a common occurrence that it became difficult to keep track. By June, over 80 people had lost their lives in Assam and Meghalaya, and not one person in power or seeking power could assure residents that these stats would not repeat this year. 

Then, there is the perennial issue of mining in Meghalaya. And coal is not the only resource here, of course: there is limestone, sand and stone mining too. 

Even though coal mining is banned, the state government has pursued the same and now, the NPP wants us to believe that it will pursue ‘scientific mining‘. Of course, no one bothers to explain how rat-hole mining can be done scientifically.

I must admit that the party has been smart enough to make it sound like the locals, not the state government, want mining to begin with, and they might be right. But who makes money from coal mining? The miner or the owner? No person ‘wants’ to spend hours and weeks trapped in rat hole mines; they do so because there is no alternative. But mining is good money, and good money is good politics. If that means the water bodies are polluted and precious forest cover is lost, no big deal. And every once in a while, when people die due to mining, it will present the leaders a wonderful opportunity to show ‘concern’ and pose for photos with affected families. 

But Meghalaya is the home of clouds, the place of breathtaking beauty, and the one state where every day is Instagrammable, so why not talk more about tourism than protecting the environment, right?

Nagaland fares no better: it is a ticking time bomb, at least environmentally, as our latest analyses in eastern Nagaland’s Noklak town showed. 

The state administration has been aware of the problem for one and a half decades. The Nagaland government started paying attention to the landslide issue back in 2008, as confirmed by information made available under the Right to Information application filed by the Kiam Landslide Committee. The state government spent Rs 2 crore to improve urban drainage, construct check dams to control the debris, wire meshes to control the debris and implement afforestation of about 22 hectares of land in town. These efforts were undertaken from 2008 to 2010. 

After that, we seem to have given up. While Joshimath had the nation’s attention, no Nagaland leader currently chasing power will even bother with what is happening in Noklak because why bother about issues when you can pay the voters? Rainfall in Nagaland has become irregular and the state has reported droughts in recent years, and yet, no party wants to address issues that threaten our very survival. 

Nagaland has its own mining problem, as we were made aware of when security forces gunned down 13 miners returning home for Christmas in Mon district in December 2021. Sure, the human tragedy was above all: but once again, it reminded us that locals are being forced to make difficult choices: make money at the cost of destroying the environment around them, or make no money at all.

Later this year, Mizoram too will head to elections and while I can guarantee that no party will contest elections by claiming they will secure the state’s future by at least attempting to undo the damage caused to the state’s environment. How many of us, for example, are even aware that Mizoram has reported the highest rate of desertification in India? In the last 15 years, northeast India has reported the highest rate of desertification, and four northeast states feature in the top 10 list: Mizoram on top, followed by Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. 

It is time we stop looking at the northeast as some pristine, unfiltered environmental utopia as seen in state tourism videos. We are on course to witness the catastrophic impact of climate change, and yet, our political discourse is so medieval that we do not even talk about these issues, let alone vote on these parameters. 

Both states will have new governments soon, but I can safely say that by the time we witness the next elections, it might be too late to save our environment: we are already out of time. 

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