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A setback

The Supreme Court's stand that construction work of the Sardar Sarovar project can continue for now is a severe blow to the NBA movement led by Medha Patkar. After the publication of the GoM's confidential report (April 17) exposing the Madhya Pradesh Government's claim of rehabilitation, and the stalemate in the Review Committee, the Prime Minister ought to have acted in keeping with the obligation cast on him by the October 2000 court judgment.

S.K. Choudhury,
Bangalore

With Narendra Modi's entry into the dam controversy, the human problem of resettlement of 35,000 families has been reduced to political bickering. It is unfortunate that successive governments in Madhya Pradesh have failed to address the massive problem of human displacement and the Supreme Court had to intervene to direct the State Governments to present a report on rehabilitation within a week.

K.S. Sundaram,
Bangalore

The GoM's report on the state of rehabilitation and relief in Madhya Pradesh is shocking. How can an elected Government fabricate data that run completely counter to the ground reality? If such apathy to the genuine problems of the people persists, the only choice they will be left with is armed revolution.

G. Harikrishnan,
Chennai

The exposure of Madhya Pradesh's rehabilitation claims comes as a shock to all Indians. Such frauds only belie the hope of a sincere few to see an India sans corruption.

Arun Dash,
Hyderabad

The Hindu 's coverage of the Narmada issue has shown what a combine of editor, analyst and reporter can do to affirm truth and justice. It also underscores the importance of field visits and reporters' exposure to the environmental, agricultural, and aesthetic values of the Valley; as also the absurdity of certain types of ventures — submerging acres of the richest alluvial soil in Asia, uprooting people from a state of well-being that all the human development reports flag to precarious existence. As the editorial "People's needs over party politics" (April 17) affirms, this is an issue about the design of development: about respecting the judiciary and using knowledge and facts such as those Ramaswamy Iyer brings out from the files and reviews of the government itself.

Among the voices of Gujarat there are also those who are concerned that Sardar Sarovar project has seriously distracted government attention from the immediate needs of water and local development of a vast population, which according to the project itself is not planned to be reached by it. When Gandhiji found himself in conflict situations he undertook fast for self-purification: to draw into himself and reflect, and pray to god for direction. Hopefully, Chief Minister Narendra Modi's fast too would be revelatory.

Devaki Jain,
Bangalore

It is clear that the displaced people are either tribals or those who are not really important enough to make a significant contribution to our country like say, a politician or software engineer. Which is heartening because even if their families are struck badly by the displacement, we can be sure that it will not seriously affect the nation's development. It is not as if compensation has not been paid in Madhya Pradesh. The Government offered land to 407 families in Khalghat. They may have to dig 10 feet to find cultivable land but such sacrifice is expected of patriotic citizens, especially displaced patriotic citizens. So what if the GoM did not find any PAF of the 4,000 supposed-to-have-been-settled families in Dharampuri? It did find two water pumps and stones — a sure sign that the Government is moving. Raising the dam height will no doubt further displace people, but we at least know they will have a community of their own — of displaced families awaiting rehabilitation.

Shelton Pinheiro,
Kochi, Kerala

It is shocking that Rs.1 lakh was deducted from every unit of Rs.10 lakh paid to the oustees. The Government must disclose whether all compensation packages involving cash payments are subjected to IT deduction at source.

A.K. Dasgupta,
Hyderabad

It is unfortunate that the debate is focussing on whether or not to increase the dam height while the main issue of resettlement and rehabilitation has been sidelined. Neither the project has been completed nor is R&R of the oustees in sight. Neither the executive nor the judiciary has been able to solve the issue.

Shobhita Jain,
Gurgaon, Haryana

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