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dam-l LS: Narmada Update/World Commission on Dams Meeting
Two articles from the Environment News Service
1) Agitation Flares Against India's Narmada Dam 3/26/99
2) World Commission on Dams Convenes Meeting of Opposites 3/25/99
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Agitation Flares Against India's Narmada Dam
Environment [19]ENS -- Environment News Service
By Frederick Noronha
BOMBAY, India,
March 26, 1999 (ENS) - Angry campaigners in India vowed to revive this
country's best-known anti-dam protest to fight against what they see
as the uprooting of tens of thousands of people, particularly tribals.
The renewed action comes as the World Commission on Dams wound up its
first Forum in the Czech Republic today.
After four years of an uneasy calm, the Narmada Valley is stirring
once again. This follows the recent clearance by the courts for the
controversial dam project.
Leaders of the campaign announced a renewed agitation from April 1 to
stop the multi-million plan, known officially as the Sardar Sarovar
Dam Project. This dam is part of the Narmada Valley Development
Project, a plan to build 30 major, 135 medium and 3,000 small dams on
the Narmada River and its tributaries.
To highlight the issue, a march traversing large areas of India is
planned. Marchers are to cross the towns and cities of the provinces
of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and move towards the national
capital of New Delhi, covering several thousands of kilometres. The
Narmada Valley Development Project involves four Indian states:
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Campaigners waging a bitter battle against it for many years say the
project would displace 200,000 people, mainly tribals of the Satpura
and Vindhyachal hill ranges in the western areas of North India.
Resumption of protests comes shortly after the Supreme Court in New
Delhi gave an interim order in February to reverse its stay on further
construction of the dam in the northeast region of the federal
province of Gujarat. This court order approved the raising of the
height of the dam from its present height of 80.3 metres to 85 metres.
Campaign leaders, including activist Medha Patkar, said the February
18 judgment "has yet again stirred up a discussion among the concerned
about the Judiciary's role in protecting the interests of the deprived
and the marginalised, in probing the 'public purpose' of large
projects, and in paving the way for sustainable, equitable
alternatives."
One of the 12 Commissioners of the World Commission on Dams, Patkar is
a social scientist and the founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save
Narmada Movement) in India, an organisation campaigning against the
construction of large dams on the Narmada River that includes affected
people, Indian supporters, and people around the world. She is a
founding member and current National Co-ordinator of the National
Alliance of Peoples Movement.
Allowing the dam height to be raised would lead to "irreparable
damages", said Patkar. "A large part of the tribal villages will be
affected in the coming monsoon," she warned. Many tribal villages in
northwestern India could be partially or fully submerged with the
onset of heavy monsoon rains, less than three months away.
Campaign groups have been arguing that the regional governments are
not prepared to rehabilitate those affected, and would not have "any
readiness for it" in coming months or even years.
Hundreds of families have already returned from rehabilitation sites,
due to the abysmal, uninhabitable conditions there, they claim.
It has taken more than a month for campaign leaders of the Narmada
Bachao Andolan to mobilise support for a renewed agitation across the
vast area.
"The people's movement in the Narmada Valley has reached a critical
stage: the outcome will be decisive for millions of people fighting
against displacement, unjust and unsustainable policies and projects
in the name of development," Patkar told reporters.
She called on the people of the valley "to rise up" with the support
and participation of thousands all over the country.
Campaigners said they expect thousands of affected people to march in
New Delhi on April 1 to expose the Gujarat government's false claims
on resettlement and rehabilitation.
Villagers displaced by other Indian dam projects - including the
Bargi, Narmada Sagar, Maheshwar, Tawa and Man - are also to expected
join this march, according to its organizers.
The Supreme Court reversed its earlier stay on the dam project, after
the regional Gujarat government claimed to have re-settled a majority
of the project affected people in the submergence zone.
But this government's claim is being questioned by the neighbouring
state government in Madhya Pradesh, which does not want the height of
the dam raised as many of its villages would be affected.
Campaigners wanted the Indian high court to set up a separate tribunal
to look into various issues raised by the people in their 14 years of
"agitation against destructive development."
Work on this ambitious Indian dam project, the Sardar Sarovar Project,
began in 1985 despite stiff resistance from those who would be
displaced.
Four years ago the Supreme Court ordered a stay on further
construction on the ground of unsatisfactory resettlement and
rehabilitation of the affected people.
To add to the tangle, the World Bank withrew its support for the
estimated Rs 90 billion project (by 1985 prices), after campaigns by
the Indian environmental groups and some donor countries.
farmer
The development company, Sardar Sarovar Naramada Nigam Ltd., points to
the need for irrigation and power for the region. It promises
environmental restoration and even eco-tourism when the dam is
completed. It says resettlement is going well and presents a positive
argument to all of the anti-dam activists contentions. "Sardar Sarovar
project is the first major river valley project which is subjected to
exacting environmental conditions imposed by the Government of India
at the time of according clearance to this project," the company says.
In the February 1999 court ruling, the governments were permitted to
raise the height of the dam. But the court also simultaneously ordered
proper rehabilitation of all those under 85 metres, and a submission
by the governments detailing rehabilitation plans for families under
90 metres.
"People of Narmada Valley, after struggling for last 14 years, are
left to face this sheer injustice at the hands of the system at large.
The State has been trying to displace the people through fraud and
repression. The tribal and farmer families are deprived of their lives
and livelihood," charged an angry Patkar.
She argued that the outcome of the eco-battle in the Narmada valley,
now in a critical stage, would be "decisive for millions of people
fighting against displacement, unsustainable and unjust policies and
projects."
Campaigners are furious at what they say were moves by regional
governments to give the country's topmost court "misleading
affidavits, claims and information" over the rehabilitation situation.
This battle aimed at both strengthening the movement and also letting
the Indian state "know the intensity by which we all uphold the Right
to Life and Livelihood", said the campaign groups in a statement made
available to ENS here.
"For the people of Narmada valley, time has come again to fight with
their only weapon - their lives - to save and protect life and not to
succumb to the immoral pressures of the system," said an angry
statement.
In recent years, India has seen a sharpening of environmental battles
for survival, which have taken on an bitter tone in recent years
especially when large sections of the poor are adversely affected.
[20]Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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World Commission on Dams Convenes Meeting of Opposites
Environment [19]ENS -- Environment News Service
PRAGUE, Czech Republic, March 25, 1999 (ENS) - Dams are a flashpoint
issue in the sustainable management of finite water resources. In an
attempt to move the debate beyond conflict and into the development of
internationally acceptable policies on dams and their alternatives,
the World Commission on Dams is hosting the first meeting of its
48-member Forum here today and tomorrow.
Called a Meeting of Opposites on Water Conflicts and Their Resolution,
the forum is seen as a sounding board for the work of the Commission.
The World Commission on Dams was launched on February 16, 1998, by its
two sponsoring organizations, the World Bank and the World
Conservation Union. The Commission's mandate sets it two goals: to
review the development effectiveness of dams and assess alternatives
for water resources and energy development; and to develop
internationally-accepted standards, guidelines and criteria for
decision-making in the planning, design, construction, monitoring,
operation and decommissioning of dams.
Like the Commission itself, the Forum is an innovation in global
public policy-making. It brings together a broad spectrum of pro-dam
and anti-dam interests. These include utilities and indigenous people,
economists and social activists, environmentalists and engineers, as
well as lending institutions and aid agencies which often are
approached to fund dams.
While today's meeting was a closed session, Friday the Forum meets in
an open session, starting with a panel discussion on a key
international waterway, the Danube River.
The largest river in Central Europe, the Danube and its basin include
17 countries, and its waters are used by 80 million people. Between
1950 and 1980, 69 dams were built along the Danube River.
Individual countries have sought to dam and canalise Danube waters
despite opposition from their neighbors. In recent years, however, a
degree of cross-border consensus on some issues has been achieved
through Danube treaties. In the case of the Gabcikova dam, Slovakia
and Hungary agreed to submit their dispute to the International Court
of Justice.
Activists have fought governments to preserve communities, plants and
animals affected by engineering works on the river. Many of the
adversaries recently have joined together in regional initiatives to
seek progress on social and environmental issues along the Danube.
Danube
This meeting is a mechanism for maintaining a dialogue between the
World Commission on Dams and the respective constituencies of the
Forum members. Since the Commission is facilitating debate on the
complex issue of the development effectiveness of dams, the Forum
members can help to build ownership of the work of the Commission
amongst a broader, larger range of constituencies.
The understanding and acceptance of the final products of the
Commission will only be possible if these products are subjected to
constituency input and consultation.
The Forum is one of the principal mechanisms for preparing a global
initiative and strategy for dissemination of the WCD recommendations
and final report by June 2000.
The Forum is expected to meet three times: in March 1999, November
1999 and April 2000.
List of Invited Members for the First Meeting
Multilateral Agencies
* Asian Development Bank, Manila
* African Development Bank, Abidjan
* Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome
* Inter-American Development Bank, Washington
* United Nations Development Programme, New York
* United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi
* World Bank, Washington
Affected Peoples' Groups
* Coordination for the Senegal River Basin, Senegal
* Federacon de Indgenas del Estado Bolvar/COICA, Venezuela
* Grand Council of the Cree, Canada
* Movimento dos Antigos por Barragens, Brazil
* Narmada Bachao Andolan, India
* SUNGI Development Foundation, Pakistan
International Associations
* International Commission for Irrigation & Drainage, New Delhi
* International Commission on Large Dams, South Africa
* International Energy Agency, Paris
Bilateral Agencies
* Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development,
Germany
* Norwegian Agency for International Co-operation, Norway
* Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, Switzerland
* Swedish International Development Agency, Sweden
NGOs
* Berne Declaration, Switzerland
* Environmental Development Action, Senegal
* Help the Volga River, Russia
* International Rivers Network, United States
* Intermediate Technology Development Group, United Kingdom
* The World Conservation Union, Switzerland
* Sobrevivencia-Friends of the Earth, Paraguay
* World Wide Fund for Nature, Switzerland
Government Agencies
* United States Bureau of Reclamation, United States
* Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Lesotho
* Ministry of Water Resources, China
* National Water Commission, Mexico
* Ministry of Mahaweli Development, Sri Lanka
Utilities
* Electrobras, Brazil
* Hydro-Qubec, Canada
* Korea Electric Power Company, South Korea
Research Institutes/Resource Persons
* Centro EULA, Ciudad Universitaria Concepcion, Chile
* The Institute of Hydroelectric Studies and Design, Romania
* Tropical Environmental Consultants Ltd., Senega
* World Resources Institute, United States
* Water Research Institute, Israel
* Winrock International, Nepal
* Focus on the Global South, Thailand
* DAWN, Fiji
Private Sector Firms
* Enron, United States
* Harza Engineering Firm, United States
* Siemens, Germany
River Basin Authorities
* Confederacion Hydrografica del Ebro, Spain
* Mekong River Commission, Cambodia
* Volta River Authority, Ghana
* Jordan Valley Authority, Jordan
Export Credit Guarantee Agencies
* Hermes, Germany
* OECF, Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund, Japan
* U.S. Export/Import Bank, USA
[20]Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susanne Wong
Campaigns Assistant
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703
Tel: 1.510.848.1155 ext 316 email: swong@irn.org
Fax: 1.510.848.1008 web: www.irn.org