The Hindu : Notice to M.P. on rehabilitation of dam-hit

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Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

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Notice to M.P. on rehabilitation of dam-hit

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 3. The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh Government and others on an application seeking a direction to rehabilitate about 150 families affected by the raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from the present level of 100 metres (plus three metres of hump).

A three-Judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice V. N. Khare, Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice S.B. Sinha, issued the notice on the application from Ratansingh Ranchoda and 22 other tribal farmers of the village Picchodi in Badwani district of the State.

The application, filed on a pending writ petition by the Narmada Bachao Andolan, stated that the village which was about to get submerged due to the raising of the dam height had not been rehabilitated so far. Further, if the height was increased they apprehended submergence of their village any moment. The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award and the apex court judgment dated October 16, 2000 had directed that the rehabilitation programme of the affected people be completed much before the anticipated submergence.

The Bench also directed the Grievances Redressal Authority of the Madhya Pradesh Government to dispose of by June 30 the applications of the residents of village Jal Sindhi seeking allotment of land in lieu of the land already submerged.

The villagers from Picchodi and Jal Sindhi alleged that though they had been declared as Project Affected Persons (PAPs) when the dam reached a height of 95 metres, they had not been rehabilitated even after the dam height reached 100 metres.

They pointed out that the apex court had directed that the State could go ahead with the raising of the dam height only when it had completed the rehabilitation of the PAPs.

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