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Timely warning

The Supreme Court's warning to the State Governments involved in the Sardar Sarovar project that it would have no option but to stop construction of the dam if they did not carry out effective rehabilitation of the displaced families is timely. With Medha Patkar's fast entering the 21st day and the dispute assuming a political hue with Narendra Modi joining issue with the opponents of the dam, the atmosphere was becoming charged.

Rupesh Roshan,
Munger, Bihar

The court is fully justified in echoing its concern over the charged atmosphere created by the politics of Narmada. It has rightly laid stress on the need to strike a balance between development and rehabilitation.

V.K. Sathyavan Nair,
Kottayam, Kerala

Ms. Patkar has done the right thing by calling off her fast. The petty politicking surrounding the Narmada issue is certainly not worth her life. The country needs leaders like her to wage a battle on behalf of the have-nots.

K. Giridhar,
Hyderabad

It is hoped that the rehabilitation of the displaced will now gather momentum. The State Governments should enlist the services of NGOs such as the NBA to speed up rehabilitation. The displaced persons too have the responsibility of accepting a reasonable settlement in the interests of the larger good.

D.B.N. Murthy,
Bangalore

For a party that came to power on the promise of development with a human face, the Congress' attitude to the plight of the thousands displaced by the project is deplorable. It is obvious that the rehabilitation and resettlement work has suffered heavily due to bureaucratic indifference and lack of political will. By abdicating the responsibility cast on him by the judiciary and leaving the matter to the court, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has proved that his genius does not suit a crisis.

V.V.S. Mani,
Bangalore

Besides exposing Mr. Modi's penchant for giving a political colour to social causes, the dam issue has shown how political calculations come in the way of resolving crucial humanitarian issues even at the highest level. The Centre gave in to the narrow consideration of losing out to political rivals.

Saurabh Bhalla,
Patiala, Punjab

There are many Narendra Modis among opinion makers and those in power who believe in development at any cost, even if its benefits are not equitably distributed. We need more Medha Patkars and Arundhati Roys to remind us that equity is a dimension of economic development, which is as basic as any other.

K. Vijayakumar,
Bangalore

This refers to Mr. Modi's statement at the end of his fast that the Narmada controversy provided him an "insight" into why separatist movements kept rearing their heads from time to time in different parts of the country — the Centre's lopsided policies which hinder development in some States. In fact, it is because of leaders like Mr. Modi who fan parochial sentiments that such movements gain momentum.

N. Nagarajan,
Secunderabad

Can we trust someone like Mr. Modi to understand what rehabilitation means? For him camps such as Shah Alam set up after the Gujarat genocide are resettlement. Where four years after the riots, Muslims still await rehabilitation — physical, economic and emotional.

Ashok Lal,
New Delhi

Dam projects in India have a history of being damned for the right or wrong reasons since the times of Bhakra Nangal. There were persons who opposed the world's tallest dam, as claimed then, but Nehru's vision for solving India's food scarcity has stood the test of time. The Narmada dam, when completed, will bring prosperity to rural masses in four States. No doubt, Ms. Patkar has a valid reason to fight for the displaced tribals and the Supreme Court has rightly taken cognisance of the core issue. But how far our babus will comply with the court's direction is anybody's guess. Now that politicians have hijacked the issue, it will prolong to the detriment of the poor tribals.

A. Jegadeesan,
Madurai, T.N.

It is rather unfortunate that the Sardar Sarovar project, caught in the web of politics, has hit a stalemate. Judicial proceedings will only prove time-consuming. The Prime Minister should discharge his responsibility without further delay.

Inamdar Ramachandra,
Bangalore

Not only in the Narmada issue but in almost all development projects, the Government's practice has been to make grand promises of rehabilitation or compensation and later negotiate with the project affected. The Supreme Court's order has brought a ray of hope to the dam oustees.

Mohd. Mudassir Alam,
New Delhi

Sardar Sarovar is a reality and so are thousands of displaced families, most of them agriculturists with no other income generating skills. The events are taking a turn in which the NBA supporters are portrayed as being against water supply to thirsty areas. But it is true that R&R is unaccomplished. There are no anti-dam or pro-dam agitations; there are only pro-human and anti-human protests.

Achyuthaa Rao,
Bangalore

The GoM findings are nothing to be shocked at. Such things have been going on for a good generation-and-a-half through the length and breadth of the country in all major contracts, with all political parties liberally helping themselves to the spoils. Let us spare ourselves the hypocrisy of shocked responses that is de rigueur for a citizenry, which has never bothered to see that abuse and exploitation have been around for ages. Let us also not entreat Dr. Singh to take charge and do something, that's just not him.

K. Kitchlu,
Bangalore

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