Institution of Local Self Governance and its Linkages with Tourism

done in Dupont case .In another instance , the Government of Karnataka le ased out landsin sched uled are as for minin g operations to non-tribals withoutconsult in g them, thus contraven in g the fifth schedule of theConst itut ion . The Adiv as is in An antagir i mandai of vizag distr ict inAndra Pradesh were victims of powerful economic lobbies- themining industry. Sm all pr iv ate min ing companies were in occupat ionof trib al lands and were usin g tribals as laborers . The tribals in Borr aPanchayat who have been living in these hills for centur ies (the Borracaves which are world famous geological format ions of stalact itesand st alagmites date back to the pre-histor ic age) were den ied titledeeds to their own lands . On the othe r hand minin g compan ies weregiven leases by the state since the 1960s on trib al and forestlands .The first company to enter the are a was Birla Per iclase, which is acompany of Ind ian Rayon and Industr ies. The company was given ale ase of 120 acres of land in a small interior village calledNimmal ap adu , for exp loiti ng calc ite , one of the principal raw mate rialsfo r their Se a Water Magnesi a plant near Bh iml i.The tr ib als of Bo rra Panc h ayat with the help of an NGO, namedSamata put up a fight directly against the state as it was found outth at the le ases were against the land transfe r re gul ations of thescheduled are a (the LT R Act 1 of 1970) and started question in g thele gal ity of these le ases . A stron g peoples movement was bu ild upand a legal battle was fought to question the states right to grantmin in g leases in the scheduled are a to pr ivate compan ies as thele ases amounted to tr ansfer of tr ibal lands to non-tr ibals.Public interest liti gation was filed in the high cou rt of Andhr a Pradeshin 1993 on the grounds that the government was also a 'pe rson' (nontribal) and hence does not have the powe r to gr ant le ases in ascheduled area to non-tribals . A st ay order was granted and for thefi rst time after independe nce , the tr ib als of Borra Panch ayatcult ivated thei r own lands . In 1995 the stay order was lifted and thecase was dism issed by the High court. This prompted th e Samata totake the issue of tribals to the Supreme Cou rt. In July 1997, thehistor ic judgment was made which declared th at mining le ases in the71