The Hindu : Patkar opposes move to increase dam height

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 08, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Patkar opposes move to increase dam height

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL JAN. 7. The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader, Medha Patkar, today led a protest demonstration and sat on a dharna in front of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti's official residence to draw attention to "glaring flaws'' in the relief and rehabilitation programmes for villagers being affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat, which is part of the mega-Narmada valley project.

Before leading a protest march to the Chief Minister's residence this afternoon, she told newspersons at Gandhi Bhavan that Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government, appear determined to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam from its present 100 metres to 110 metres without even taking the States of Maharashtra and Rajasthan into confidence.

Later in the day Ms. Patkar was assured by the Chief Minister, when she called on her along with a delegation of the dam-affected people at her office in the State Secretariat, that the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat would be consulted for the rehabilitation of the Narmada oustees. Ms. Bharti also emphasised that all help would be extended to the Narmada oustees and the interests of the poor people would be fully protected. The Chief Minister told the delegation that water is a national resource and hence any decision about the rehabilitation of the oustees would be taken only after holding consultations with all the concerned States. The decisions regarding dams being built on the Narmada river would also be taken keeping in view the national interest, she said.

The Chief Minister told the delegation that new employment avenues would be created, especially women, in the Narmada valley.

Earlier, addressing newsmen, Ms. Patkar had said: "If the dam's height goes up to 110 metres, it would not only submerge the sacred Maheshwar temple and ghat, where Ms. Bharti had rushed to offer prayers immediately after being sworn-in as Chief Minister, but also close the avenues for excavating the site to look for ancient remains of our glorious past.

Ms. Patkar accused the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, of indulging in a misinformation campaign regarding Sardar Sarovar dam's power generation capacity. Mr. Modi had come to Anjar and said that by raising the dam's height to 110 metres, it would be possible to generate 1500 MW of power, she said adding this was just not possible as only 250 MW power can be generated from a small canal head at that height. In the post- monsoon season, the generation capacity would be restricted to about 40 MW out of which Madhya Pradesh's share would be only 20-22 MW, she said.

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