The Hindu : New Delhi News : Narmada rehabilitation status on the web

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Monday, Sep 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Narmada rehabilitation status on the web

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19. To keep the public informed, the Prime Minister's Office on Friday directed the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, to post immediately on its website information on the status of the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of the people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). A direction to this effect has been made by the PMO to the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment who heads the R&R sub-group of the Narmada Control Authority on SSP.

The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award and judgments of the Supreme Court clearly state that the oustees are to be rehabilitated ahead of further construction and it is only based on a report of rehabilitation that further construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam is permitted. "In spite of institutional arrangements to ensure timely rehabilitation, the fact of rehabilitation often gets contested. The Government, therefore, has, on its own, taken the step of posting this information on the website of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,'' an official press release here said.

The PMO has directed that village-wise details of the project-affected families (PAF) as per specific dam height should be made available to the public, it added.

(The Sardar Sarovar dam, under construction in Gujarat, involves displacement of thousands of people in the Narmada valley States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Rajasthan is the fourth beneficiary State.)

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