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dam-l LS: NBA PR. Narmada Tribals Meet Maharashtra CM
People Ready To Face Submergence This Year
NARMADA TRIBALS MEET MAHARASHTRA CM : DEMAND THE STATE TO PRESENT TRUE
PICTURE ABOUT R & R IN THE COURT
A delegation of the main activists from Maharashtra villages affected by
the controversial Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) in the Narmada valley met
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Narayan Rane, and demanded that the
state government must present the real abysmal status of rehabilitation
in the Supreme Court and oppose any increase in the height of the dam.
They warned that the people would be left with no alternative but to
face submergence if the government succumbs to the Gujarat pressure of
increasing the height of the dam unmindful of the resettlement and land
availability.
The delegation consisted of the main tribal leaders in the valley
including Noorji Padvi, Ranybhau Padvi, Vanaka Padvi, Keshav Vasave,
Dedhli Bai alongwith Medha Patkar. They were joined by the
representatives of those who have been already displaced and resettled
from Maharashtra villages. Jordar Pawra and Ms. Pratibha Shinde of '
Punarvasan Sangharsha Samiti' were also the part of the delegation.
The representatives protested against the false information provided by
the Maharashtra government to the Supreme Court regarding the
displacement and resettlement of the oustees from the state. The
government claimed that it has enough land to resettle the oustees even
upto the height of 110 meters. In reality, those who have been displaced
hitherto are not resettled fully and properly. There have been large
scale violations of the stipulations of the Narmada Water Disputes
Tribunal (NWDT) regarding the resettlement. Hundreds of the oustees did
not get the possession of the land even after their displacement for
last 4-6 years. The 4200 hectares of the forest land, cleared in the
name of resettlement, consists of 'encroachments' in hundreds of
hectares by the earlier tribal settlers. Over 850 hectares of this land
is uncultivable. In fact, those who have been 'resettled' previously
have been demanding the land. The state government, while claiming the
adequate land for resettlement in the court, has at the same time formed
the land purchase committee to buy private land for resettlement and had
gave in writing to ' Punarvasan Sangharsha Samiti' that over 160 Project
Affected Families (PAFs) remained to be given possession of the land,
it was pointed out. The people already resettled narrated their woes to
the Chief Minister. They said that number of families, who were forced
to displace have been returning back to their original villages. The
people in the original villages, Noorji Padvi and Keshav Vasave pointed
out, would face the submergence but will not be cowed down to accept
displacement under the threat of submergence, when hundreds of those
already displaced have become destitute.
The delegation also pointed out about the futility of the state
supporting such a project when it will not benefit to the needy regions
of Kutch and Saurashtra and even to the Maharashtra. " Instead, it will
be a liability on the state's scarce resources, its forest and tribal
villages" said Ms. Medha Patkar. It was explained that the project is
set to devour over 5,000 tribal families fro 33 villages in Akkalkua and
Akrani tehsile of Nandurbar district. Already 6400 hectares of good
forest has been sacrificed in the reservoir and 4200 hectares more was
deforested in the name of resettlement. Even then the resettlement could
not be achieved, thus prompting the state government to demand more than
1000 hectares of additional forest land. The state has to give about Rs.
1200 crores to as its share in this inter-state project.
In lieu of all this sacrifice, what the state of Maharashtra will gain?
The state will not get a single drop of irrigation water. Only a 27% of
the generated power is assured. The actual/firm power generation will
not be more than 450 megawatts(MW). That too is uncertain, as the new
estimates regarding the quantum of water in Narmada show a downward
trend. Instead of earlier estimated 28 million acre feet(MAF) water,
the new estimates show the availability of only 22.5 MAF. This is futher
compounded by the incomplete Narmada Sagar Project (NSP) upstream. All
this would cut the power generation nearly 30-40 %. Most important,
thestate which has maximum share of power, Madhya Paradesh (57%) has
been demanding the lowering of the SSP height from 455 to 436 feet. The
19 feet height was added precisely for the power generation. The
Government of M.P. clearly told that it was ready to forego the power
benefits to save its land, forest and people. The state has filed a
petition in the Supreme Court in March ,1999 demanding the constitution
of a new Tribunal to adjudicate of the water sharing and the project
planning in the Narmada valley, reduction of the height of the SSP. This
has further diluted any hope of whatever little amount of power the
Maharashtra government hoped to gain. Thus, the people asked, why
Government of Maharashtra has been blindly toeing the Gujarat agenda at
the cost of its own people, resources, land and forest? They demanded
that, like the Government of M.P., the Government of Maharashtra too
must revise its stance regarding the SSP and oppose any further
construction on the dam to safeguard its tribal population. The
delegation demanded that the state government must present the real
picture regarding the rehabilitation and land availability ( that is,
non-availability) in the Court.
The Chief Minister assured that he himself would see the facts regarding
the dam and the resettlement and would formulate the state policy
regarding the dam only in view of the state's interests. The people
warned the Chief Minister that they would be facing the submergence due
to the increase in the dam height from 80.3 to 85 meters and will not
leave their villages under the threat of submergence.
Sanjay Sangvai