The News Minute | June 10, 2014 | 8:06 pm IST
The Narmada Control Authority has granted permission to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam by 17 metres. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying thousands of hectares of fertile agriculture and horticulture, hundreds of mandirs, masjids, ghats, schools, markets, Panchayats etc cannot be drowned without full and lawful rehabilitation.
The NBA in its letter has also said that giving clearance was not right as,"since the Supreme Court’s Judgement of 2000 clearly mandates that permission shall be given pari passu, only after ensuing full and lawful compliance on all measures."
The letter appeals to PM Modi's conscience and adds,"We will stand by every move of yours taken within the framework of law and human justice, but will be compelled to challenge the same if law, human rights and nature are violated."
Medha Patkar who lead the movement tweeted-
(1/n) Facts: No. of affected villages. Guj 19, Mah 33, MP 193 Total 245 #SaveNarmada #IllegalSubmergence
— Medha Patkar (@medhanarmada) June 12, 2014(2/n) Facts: Total number of families affected 50,000 as per 2011 Census #SaveNarmada #IllegalSubmergence #SSP
— Medha Patkar (@medhanarmada) June 12, 2014New Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel faced her first challenge when a large number of tribals on Tuesday opposed the plans. A delegation of tribals, under the banner of Narmada Bachao Andolan, met Nandurbar collector P. Pradip while demanding that the long-pending issue of rehabilitating project-affected tribals in Maharashtra be settled before raising the dam height.
"The people in Narmada valley have shown courage to question this. We have presented data to establish the truth regarding displacement and environment. Now, we will be more cautious about the politics behind the vested interest," NBA activist Yogini Khanolkar said.
According to NBA, there are about 250,000 people residing in the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) submergence area in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
They have their homes, markets, agriculture and horticulture, trees and places of worship, all of which that cannot be just submerged by raising the dam height and closing the gates without their proper rehabilitation as it will violate Supreme Court rulings, the NBA contended.
"The question is whether Modi will act like chief minister of Gujarat or prime minister of India -- will he take steps to ensure no condition is flouted and no family that has not obtained rehabilitation benefits gets affected," said NBA activist Medha Patkar.
The NBA delegation informed the Nandurbar collector that in Maharashtra, a minimum of 1,000 tribal families are yet to be rehabilitated with land, houses, plots, irrigation and other amenities.
The NBA has demanded that till the issue of rehabilitation and compensation as per law is not implemented, the authorities should halt any process to raise the dam height and review the cost benefits of the SSP project that is taking a toll of nature, life and livelihood.
IANS inputs