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Thursday, Jan 04, 2007
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Nothing but violation of the tribunal award: NBA

Special Correspondent

Campaign planned against displacement, privatisation and monopolisation of resources

— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

AGAINST ODDS: NBA leader Medha Patkar along with other activists staging a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday.

New DELHI: The families displaced by the Narmada dam continued their dharna here for the second day on Wednesday, seeking rehabilitation and resettlement as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and Supreme Court orders.

Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar said civil society groups, people's movements and like-minded individuals would launch a National People's Movement (Action 2007) in March against displacement, privatisation and monopolisation of resources. The call would be for an equitable, just and sustainable development and economic policy.

On Thursday, Ms. Patkar and representatives of displaced families will meet officials of the Water Resources Ministry. They will complain against the raising of the dam's height without rehabilitating over two lakh people in the riparian States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

During their meeting on Wednesday with the Chairperson of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Sub-group, Veena Chouthray, the NBA said the clearance and construction of the dam up to 121.92 metres was ``nothing but continual violation of the Narmada tribunal award and Supreme Court orders.'' It urged the sub-group to visit the submergence villages in each tehsil, district and State to review the status of rehabilitation and resettlement for 122 metres. The sub-group must also review the availability of cultivable land entitlement and allotment procedure, verify the cash compensation claims and the corruption involved. The entitlement of each oustee to replacement of livelihood should also be looked into, it said.

The NBA regretted that the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) discussions were centred only on rehabilitation in Madhya Pradesh without any talk, let alone, initiation of processes for the rehabilitation of the remaining project-affected families in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

It submitted an Action Plan that called for recognition of the gram sabhas of the dam-affected villages, preparation of a detailed report on the records of project-affected families, records of the affected property (land, houses and other property), entitlements and status of rehabilitation and rehabilitation and resettlement as per eligibility.

It said the sub-group should facilitate gram sabhas to form village and district-level committees with representation of men, women of all class, caste, communities, occupational categories and representatives of government.

Hold camps

The Grievance Redress Committees should hold village and tehsil-level redress camps. There should be survey of families on ``tapus'' (hills and hillocks) and tribal villages of Jhabua district, Badwani district (from Kharya Bhadal to Borkhedi) and other 100 per cent tribal villages in Dhar district.

Columnist Kuldip Nayar described the raising of the dam height despite government assurances on rehabilitation of oustees as a ``big betrayal.''

``This is against democracy and human rights. What is the policy we cannot understand. This Government only cares for capitalists or those who have influence — it is a government of votes. If people cannot depend on government assurances, the courts or the Narmada tribunal award, they will have to come into action. There is no other recourse.''

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