NEW DELHI: Even as the families displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Project were facing ``colossal tragedy of large-scale submergence and displacement'' in the Narmada valley from the overflowing Narmada dam, another crisis was in the making with release of water from the upstream Tawa and Narmada Sagar dams, according to the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NDA) leader Medha Patkar.

About 11,910 cubic metres per second of water from the Narmada Sagar dam had been released a few days ago, increasing the gravity of the situation. She said in a statement here that thousands of tribal families from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh villages had to bear the brunt of submergence, thanks to the active support for raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam up to 119 metres despite the serious violation of the laws. ``The raised dam height has caused unprecedented submergence in the Narmada valley. All the claims regarding the magnitude of submergence have proved to be false. Dhankhedi village in Maharashtra was not supposed to be submerged at the current height of the Narmada dam, but within four hours of the assurance from the officials, the village was inundated and all belongings of the people were washed away. This has been the fate of hundreds of others.'' She alleged that no help was forthcoming despite claims made by the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh Governments.

On the other hand, the police tried to intimidate the people into leaving the villages. When some children and teachers from the ``jeevan shalas'' schools run by the NBA protested they were held, the NBA alleged. The waters also washed away a micro-hydel power project constructed by the NBA in the valley. The micro project, which was the inspiration for the film `Swades,' was a model of self-dependent and decentralised development, initiated by the people themselves, with the judicious use of the natural resources at their disposal, Ms. Patkar said.

In the rehabilitation sites in Gujarat where the dam-affected people had been resettled, monsoon waters flooded the fields and destroyed crops. Water logging had increased after the canal networks, in many places without adequate drainage, blocked the natural drains. In many sites such as Karnet, Thuvavi in the State, people's houses that were neither in the submergence zone nor near the river, were inundated. In Maharashtra, river waters entered the houses in Vadchhil and Javda resettlement sites. One `nullah' burst destroying the houses and sown fields.

Ms. Patkar said that despite the hardships, hundreds of people observed Independence Day at the satyagraha venue at Chikhalda in Badwani district.

They vowed to struggle for the true independence for the farmers and tribals whose rights were being trampled upon with impunity.

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