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Indira Sagar dam oustees unhappy over rehab package

A man breaking a section of his house in Harsud town, 200 kilometres from Bhopal, on Monday. The residents have been asked by the government to shift to nearby New Harsud town by June 30, as the town would be submerged in the Indira Sagar Dam under the Narmada valley project. -- AP

HARSUD (MADHYA PRADESH), JUNE 28. Thousands of people living in Harsud town in Madhya Pradesh and eight villages in the vicinity have been uprooted for an upcoming hydel project.

Authorities have set Wednesday as the deadline to vacate the area that would be submerged under the Indira Sagar dam. The dam is being constructed on the main Narmada river.

As the dam construction nears completion, reality is slowly but surely dawning upon the residents that their erstwhile homes and properties would soon meet a watery burial.

Displaced people say they are yet to be rehabilitated and have still not received even the full compensation benefits.

``We had two houses here and were running a medical store but now we are leaving everything behind. We should have got a good compensation but what we got is not even one fourth of the total properties we lost,'' said Alka Goel.

``We only want that whatever due compensation is there should be given to us. So that we can take care of our families,'' said Phulwa Devi.

Around 120 villages are likely to be completely submerged once the dam is completed. The State Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, attributed the delay in rehabilitation to stipulations barring distribution of such financial package during the recent elections.

``We have given a special package to the people of Harsud. We were unable to carry out rehabilitation work earlier due to election code of conduct,'' Bharti said. Authorities claim that people from 112 villages have already been shifted to safer place.

Once completed, Indira Sagar dam will have the largest storage capacity in the country. It will have an installed capacity of 1,000 MW and will irrigate 265,000 hectares annually. The Indira Sagar and the Omkareshwar dams in Madhya Pradesh, along with the controversial Sardar Sarovar project are a part of the ambitious Narmada Valley Development Project. -- ANI

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