Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

One-sided portrayal

The media's portrayal that the dam construction is injurious to a particular section is one-sided. A dispassionate view needs to be taken to ensure that the interests of neither the oustees nor the beneficiaries of the dam suffer. We have to assess the volume of work involved in R&R and see whether raising the dam height will overtake them as being made out. Construction activity will lose momentum if suspended. It will escalate the cost. R&R work should no doubt be speeded up.

There is also the alternative of deferring impounding of water until the oustees are settled even if the dam is raised. This is being practised in Andhra Pradesh in respect of the Somasila and Kandaleru dams in Nellore district.

K.V. Subba Rao,
Hyderabad

Sardar Sarovar is jivadori, a lifeline project of Gujarat. Hundreds of people will get drinking water, irrigation facility, and electricity once it is completed. The project had been stalled for many years on various grounds. It is an emotional issue for the people of Gujarat. Work on the dam should continue. At the same time, rehabilitation should be speeded up.

Girish Patel,
Patan, Gujarat

The State Governments are not refusing rehabilitation. Implementation of R&R seems to have been mired in corruption and inefficiency. Action should be taken against those responsible. The NBA can enlist voluntary organisations to sort out the issue along with the Government. A confrontationist approach will only lead to wastage of efforts and resources.

D. Suresh,
Chennai

Narmada seemed a non-issue till about a fortnight ago. Suddenly the whole nation has started talking about it. While it is perfectly agreeable that the affected need to be rehabilitated, it is important to ask: at what cost? Are the woes of the people who have been crying for water for 60 years because they are in arid areas justified?

Prem Kumar,
New Delhi

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