No
Govt decision on Narmada dam yet
New
Delhi/Ahmedabad: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here
today said that no decision has been taken on suspension
of construction work at the Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada
river. PMO spokesperson Sanjaya Baru said: "The Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh had discussed the issue but has not taken
any decision yet". "The Prime Minister is studying the report
submitted by Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz," he
added. Baru said there was no question of going against
the Supreme Court verdict in the matter.
The
statement came after a delegation of Gujarat MPs led by
senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, and a delegation of Gujarat
Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) led by GPCC president
Bharatsinh Solanki met the Prime Minister over raising the
height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam earlier today. However,
a PMO statement maintained that rehabilitation should remain
a priority. Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz
had submitted the report of Narmada Control Authority (NCA)
review committee which met on Saturday to the Prime Minister.
Soz, on Saturday, after the meeting of NCA review committee
had said that the Government had put a stay on raising the
height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam for now and that the matter
had been forwarded to the Prime Minister for further action.
Soz had convened the NCA review committee to review the
decision taken by the NCA to raise the height of the Sardar
Sarovar Dam from 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres.
Meanwhile, irked by the Centre's stand on the issue, Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has gone on a 51-hour hunger
strike at Sabarmati Ashram. However, following assurance
from the Prime Minister that the work on raising the dam
height would not be stopped, a state-wide shutdown called
earlier by the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC)
has been called off. The matter is likely to be heard in
the Supreme Court tomorrow. The Supreme Court, in its decisions
on October 2000 and March 2005, had ruled that the height
of dam could be increased after completion of rehabilitation
arrangement in accordance with directive of the Narmada
Water Disputes Tribunal. However, the activists protesting
against the dam alleged that the people already displaced
by the project are yet to be rehabilitated properly.
The
height of the dam has been increased several times in recent
years. In March 2006, the NCA gave clearance for the height
of the dam to be increased from 110.64 metres to 121.92.
Even, the Ministerial team, which visited rehabilitation
sites in Madhya Pradesh has reportedly said in its report
submitted to the Prime Minister that the complaints that
rehabilitation had not been done in consonance with the
orders of the Supreme Court and the Narmada Disputes Tribunal
Award, were found to be correct. The Narmada authority started
fresh construction on March 8 this year at the Sardar Sarovar
Dam, the biggest out of the 30 large dams planned under
the multi-million dollar Narmada Valley development project.
But they ran into stiff opposition, led by environmental
activist Medha Patkar, who has spearheaded a 20-year campaign
to protect hundreds of thousands of poor farmers, whose
homes and fields have been submerged or are now threatened
by plans to raise the dam. On March 29, Patkar began a hunger
strike that has now lasted for nearly 20 days. She was moved
from a makeshift protest site at Jantar Mantar to All India
Institute of Medical Science on the night of April 6. Patkar,
along with her colleagues Jamsingh Bhai Nargave, Bhagwatibai
has decided to continue hunger strike and has demanded that
Prime Minister take a decision at the earliest.
Soz
shares spotlight with Medha Patkar
New
Delhi: As the issue of Sardar Sarovar Dam's height is
heating up with strong views being articulated in favour
and against raising the height, one man who has received
a lot of media attention in last couple of weeks is Union
Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz. Soz has now tied
himself in knots over the issue. Last week, photographs
of Soz, pleading with social activist Medha Patkar with
a glass of water to end her hunger-strike, occupied the
front pages of most of the national newspapers. Soz assured
Medha Patkar that a ministerial team would visit Madhya
Pradesh to take stock of the situation. A Group of Ministers
(GoM), led by Soz, visited rehabilitation sites and submergence
villages in Madhya Pradesh and submitted its report. While
the report has not been published, Soz said that work to
raise the height of the dam is being suspended. The decision
was taken in his capacity as chairman of the review committee
of the Narmada Control Authority. He said in rehabilitation
had not been done in as directed by the Supreme Court. There
were widespread protests in Gujarat and elsewhere by Congress
leaders who are keen that the work to raise the height of
the dam should continue. The matter came up again before
the Centre and Soz could not come to a decision. The latest
word from him is that a decision has been left for the Prime
Minister to take and Soz is watching the situation. Meanwhile,
Medha Patkar, decides to continue her fast, and Saifuddin
Soz is not seen around asking her to give up her fast.
Advani slams Govt on dam
Hindupur
(Andhra Pradesh)/New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Leader of Opposition
LK Advani today accused the Central Government of creating
a messy stalemate over the Sardar Sarovar Dam issue. Advani,
talking to reporters this morning, said that suspending
work on the mega project in which the concerned states already
have invested Rs 21,000 crores in past 16 years, makes a
mockery of United Progressive Alliance Government's tall
talk of Bharat Nirman. He also alleged that the move to
stop construction work on the dam was politically motivated.
"It will be a sad day for Indian democracy if Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi is forced to go on hunger strike
to quench the thirst of his people," he said. Advani had
talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue on
phone last night.
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