The Hindu : National : Struggle will continue till the end, say people affected by Maheshwar dam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Struggle will continue till the end, say people affected by Maheshwar dam

Staff Correspondent

“Illegal direct purchase of land” will not be allowed before oustees are rehabilitated

“State will become bankrupt because it will have to pay for power for the next 35 years”
“If we want to know the extent of submergence, we should do our own backwater surveys”

— PHOTO: A.M. Faruqui

People affected by the Maheshwar dam taking out a rally in Mandleshwar on Sunday to protest against the Maheshwar Project.

BHOPAL: A large number of people affected by the Maheshwar dam joined a protest march at Mandleshwar on Sunday.

Farmers, labourers and representatives of those displaced by the Omkareshwar, Indira Sagar, Sardar Sarovar, Man, Upper Veda, Tawa and Bargi dams, who joined the “Jan Chetna and Chetavni” rally, vowed to continue the struggle to protect their rights “until their last breath.”

They demanded that a White Paper be issued on the Maheshwar project, and warned the State government and the private company implementing it that they would not allow “illegal direct purchase of land” before rehabilitation of the oustees.

Viability

Addressing a huge rally after the march, Alok Agarwal of the Narmada Bachao Andolan said that before dislocating people in the name of development, the government should establish the viability of the project.

Very little power would be generated from the project, and that too would be expensive.

Rules flouted

The State would become bankrupt because under the agreements with the company, it would have to pay for power for the next 35 years.

Senior NBA activist Chittaroopa Palit said the rights of the displaced were protected under Article 21 of the Constitution, but the government and the company were flouting rules.

Development

Representatives from the affected villages — Sushila Bai, Radheshyam Patidar, Radheshyam Verma, Jagdish Patidar, and Karvi Bai — were unanimous, pointing out that it was not yet known how big an area would be actually affected by the dam.

Senior educationist Anil Sadgopal said the struggle was not only for the individual rights and entitlements of the project-affected people but also to define and mould development in keeping with the basic needs and aspirations of the common people.

Fight against corporates

Sarwa Sewa Sangh national president Sugan Barant said that in the fight against corporates and multinationals, one would have to stop using the products of foreign companies.

Sanjha Manch’s Dunu Roy said people could not depend entirely on the government. “If we want to know the extent of submergence, we should do our own backwater surveys.”

Memorandum

After the public meeting, a memorandum was submitted to the government demanding that work on the dam be stopped immediately and a White Paper issued on the cost of power from the Maheshwar project.

A backwater survey should be done by the Central Water Commission, based on flows in both the Narmada and its tributaries.

Rehabilitation

A comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement plan based on the land entitlements of farmers and workers of the area should be prepared and made available to the villagers.

Financial irregularities committed by the project promoters should be investigated and the guilty punished, the memorandum said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National