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People's needs over party politics

Once again, the politics of expediency has taken precedence over the needs of people. The issue has come full circle following a dramatic tussle that began on March 29 when Medha Patkar and two others from the Narmada Bachao Andolan went on an indefinite fast demanding a stop to further construction on the Sardar Sarovar Dam until the families facing displacement were properly rehabilitated. A fact-finding visit to the rehabilitation areas by a three-member Group of Ministers led by Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz found the rehabilitation measures to be inadequate — and the Centre has proposed halting further construction until the mandatory conditions were met. As Ramaswamy R. Iyer, a former Union Secretary for Water Resources, points out in an article published in today's Op-Ed page, the Narmada Tribunal's Award, the conditions of clearance of the project, and the Supreme Court's judgment of October 2000 and March 2005 necessarily require that "construction is not allowed to outpace rehabilitation work," and this means "there is no question of proceeding beyond the height of 110 m already reached until the failures and deficiencies in rehabilitation work with reference to the height have been remedied, and the prescribed advance steps have been completed with reference to the proposed increase in height." Unsurprisingly, the six-member Narmada Review Committee, headed by Mr. Soz, has failed to reach a consensus. The Supreme Court foresaw such an eventuality: its judgment of October 2000, as Mr. Iyer clarifies, "clearly requires the Prime Minister to decide in the event of a disagreement in the Review Committee, and the Prime Minister cannot refuse to discharge that responsibility and throw the issue back into the lap of the Supreme Court." But with the Gujarat unit of the Congress determined to outdo the Bharatiya Janata Party in showing its militant commitment to the project, the United Progressive Alliance Government has copped out of discharging its responsibility.

In the midst of the political drama, including the farcical fast by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who is further away from Gandhian philosophy than any contemporary politician in India today, reasoned discussion becomes impossible. The Gujarat Government, which argues that the dam is the `lifeline' for the State, has failed to ensure that the canal system is complete so that the water that has already been impounded at the current height of the dam reaches the water starved districts of the State. The ransacking of the NBA office in Vadodara in full view of television cameras, with the local police standing by, and the violent response to actor Aamir Khan's show of solidarity with the NBA spotlight the ugly face of political intolerance and defiance of the rule of law in Gujarat. The Centre's response to this major challenge will set an important precedent for future developmental projects.

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