NEW DELHI: Three Central Ministers left for Madhya Pradesh on Thursday to visit resettlement sites for the Narmada dam-displaced families in Badwani district, even as Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar continued her fast in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here. She was forcibly taken there by the police at midnight on Wednesday night.

Seven more persons from various organisations joined the hunger-strike in protest against the raising of the dam height.

Ms. Patkar's brother, Mahesh, who saw her in the intensive care unit, said her condition was worrisome but stable. She was mentally strong and determined to carry on the struggle for the displaced tribals and villagers, said Mr. Mahesh, who arrived from Mumbai.

Refuses saline drip

On Wednesday night, Ms. Patkar refused intravenous saline drip and declared that the hunger-strike and dharna would continue. Only one of the fasting villagers, Jamsingh Nargave, is with her. The rest are at the Jantar Mantar dharna site.

Before leaving for Madhya Pradesh, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz told The Hindu that the team would see for itself the rehabilitation work done pursuant to the Narmada Tribunal award and Supreme Court orders.

Rehabilitation sites

Minister for Social Justice and Employment Meira Kumar and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithiviraj Chauhan left here along with Mr. Soz. The team will visit Piplod, Dharampura, Khera, Alwada and Nasirpur.

Water Resources Secretary J. Hari Narayan and Social Justice and Employment Secretary Sarita Prasad, along with members of the Narmada Control Authority, will visit some rehabilitation sites. Over a period of time, they would see rehabilitation elsewhere also. "Whatever is possible we will do," said Mr. Soz. Asked about cash compensation being offered to the uprooted families, he said, "We are examining everything."

Manmohan concerned

Mr. Soz declined to comment on the police action at the dharna site but said the Government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were concerned at Ms. Patkar's health and she had to be taken to hospital.

The NBA is not part of the touring team. Its members Dipti and Yogini said the Union Water Ministry had worked out with them an itinerary on a visit to the villages which faced displacement and those that had been submerged and whose inhabitants were sitting on hills.

"However, the programme the Narmada Control Authority has worked out for the Ministers is changed and excludes crucial villages and sites. The explanation is that logistics cannot be worked out, so they would leave out Dhar villages. The visit has been cut short to one day from two days.''

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