The Hindu : National : Eminent persons express concern over Narmada valley situation

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Friday, Aug 11, 2006

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National

Eminent persons express concern over Narmada valley situation

Special Correspondent

`Union Ministers must visit affected areas'

NEW DELHI: Several eminent persons have expressed concern over the situation in the Narmada valley as the Narmada dam was overflowing following heavy rain in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Rights violation

In a joint statement, they demanded that a group of Union Ministers visit the Sardar Sarovar dam to assess the damage.

Alleging that the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court were ``misguided'' on the status of rehabilitation of the displaced families, they demanded that the officials concerned be held accountable.

``We are extremely concerned over the increasing violation of human rights in the Narmada valley due to the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam. We learn from media reports that the dam is overflowing and has caused heavy damage to houses, schools and crops in the tribal areas.''

Demanding that the Centre and the State immediately provide humanitarian assistance to the families affected by submergence, they said that the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the non-violent people's movement, was entering into another phase of ``satyagraha'' and should be supported in their struggle for people's rights.

The signatories to the statement are: Mohini Giri, Yogendra Yadav, Kuldip Nayar, L.C. Jain, Ramaswamy Iyer, Swami Agnivesh, Prashant Bhushan, Manoranjan Mohanty, Praful Bidwai, Anand Patwardhan, Indu Prakash Singh, Achin Vanaik, Pamela Philipose, Anil Choudhury, Qamar Agha, Nandini Sundar, Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Ali Javed, Alok Rai, Kamla Bhasin, Shabnam Hashmi, Thomas Kocherry, Apoorvanand, Jai Sen, Kavita Krishnan, Lalit Surjan, Meena Menon, Naresh Gulati, R.K. Saxena and Sarla Saxena.

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