SC order to expedite Narmada rehab
by Maya Singh

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that it would stop the ongoing construction work at the Sardar Sarovar Dam if the rehabilitation work was not done in accordance with its earlier judgement and directive of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal. A special Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabbharwal, however, given a week time to all the concerned parties to file their replies to the petition filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the application moved by the Centre. It was hearing a petition filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan, seeking suspension of the construction at the dam. The Court has posted the matter for further hearing on May 1. The apex court, however, clarified that the Centre and the Prime Minister were free to decide whether the work at the controversial dam will continue or not during this period.

     "The Supreme Court today noted in its order that they have made detailed provisions regarding rehabilitation of the project affected persons in their earlier judgements which include the fact that they must be provided land, house sites various civic amenities etc, at least six months in advance of submersions. They have reiterated that these provisions must be enforced in letter and spirit by all the governments concerned," said Prashant Bhushan, advocate for Narmada Bachao Andolan. The Court also advised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to rise above party politics and take bold steps for the rehabilitation of the displaced people. "They have also said that if they find that this has not been done then they will be constrained to stop the construction of the dam. However, that they have said that they will like to give an opportunity to the State to respond to this application and therefore, they have given one weeks' time to state governments to respond to this applications and have fixed the time for further hearing on May 1," he added. Justice Sabbharwal also noted that the issue was needed to be discussed in a congenial atmosphere and not in "charged and emotive atmosphere.

     Earlier in the day, the Court had said that the construction work on the Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada River and rehabilitation of the people displaced by it should go on side by side. The Centre told the Supreme Court that it was committed to construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada and favoured constituting a committee to rehabilitate the people displaced by the project. The Centre said that the displaced people would be rehabilitated before August 2006. Representing the Central Government, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian, said that if the Centre failed to complete the rehabilitation by the stipulated time, some temporary rehabilitation programme would be done. On March 8, 2006, the Narmada Control Authority decided to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres. Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Madhya Pradesh Government, said before passing any order in this regard the state should be heard.

     Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has decided to call off his strike in wake of the apex court's missive. He had begun a 51-hour hunger strike in Ahmedabad on Sunday. But he called off his strike after the court refused to halt construction. "The protestors had tried very hard to stall the work of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. But the (Supreme) Court gave its decision in favour of the country's development. I am very happy with the decision. Whatever we are doing is in the interest of the nation. The development of Gujarat is imperative for the prosperity of the country," Modi said.

Medha Patkar breaks 21-day fast  (Go To Top)
by Sudhakar

     New Delhi: The pioneer of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), Medha Patkar, broke her twent-day long hunger strike amidst brethrens of her struggle for the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the Narmada dam, at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday. Along with her, two other NBA activists, Baghvati Bai and Jamsingh Bhai, also broke their fast Patkar broke her fast after the Supreme Court today said that it would stop the ongoing construction work at the Sardar Sarovar Dam, if the rehabilitation work was not done in accordance with its earlier judgement and directive of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal. The apex court's posting the matter till May 1, is being read by the NBA activist as one of the hope that the Court would come out with a verdict in its favour. Patkar deeply anguished by the politics played on the Narmada issue, particularly by Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi, termed her struggle for the rehabilitation as a battle between Modi and Mahatma Gandhi.

    Patkar came down heavily on the Centre for showing utter disrespect for the report submitted by its three Union Ministers who had earlier visited the affected valley and have stated that there has been no enough proper rehabilitation of the tribals and poor. She said that the Prime Minister and Congress party have exhibited unbelievable weakness in challenging the communal and criminal pressures of Gujarati politics. With the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singhs statement that he is yet to study the report submitted by his three Ministers acting as a hope, Patkar urged Dr. Singh to take some decision based on the powers and the authority vested on him as the Prime Minister of the nation. Patkar, who was brought to Jantar Mantar in an ambulance from the hospital where she was forcibly taken twelve days ago, today showed a rejuvenated energy as she announced that the struggle for the rights of the displaced people would go on. In her fifteen minute speech she made, Patkar commended the three Union Ministers, Saifuddin Soz, Meira Kumar and Prithviraj Chauhan, to be bold enough to highlight the truth in their report submitted to the Prime Minister. Surrounded by a plethora of eminent personalities like Swami Agnivesh, CPI leader A.B. Bardhan, noted journalist Kuldeep Nayyar and many others, Patkar thanked all of them for supporting the cause and said that their support would also be needed when she does not carry hunger strike also. Referring to Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Rahul Bose support for her movement, Patkar said that they alone could not do enough and need a collective effort.

Arundhati Roy: Gujarat politicising dam issue

     New Delhi: Booker-prize winning author and leading environmentalist, Arundhati Roy on Monday slammed the Gujarat Government on the Sardar Sarovar Dam issue, saying it was politicising the matter. After the Supreme Court refused a plea to stop raising the dam's height, Roy said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Gujarat Government had not even completed the preliminaries of utilizing what was already there and was crying crocodile tears over the irrigational benefits of the project. "If you look at the government's own plans, two percent of the cultivable areas of Kutch, eight percent of the cultivable area of Saurashtra will be serviced if the canals are built. The most important thing is that even at the current dam height, the Government of Gujarat has not been able to use even 30 percent of the water because they have not been able to build the canals, there would be no problem stopping the dam, building the canals, using that time to do resettlement. This is all political," Roy told reporters. Roy further went on to say that the government had buckled down to Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pressure. "Yesterday, Narendra Modi was on television throughout the day, holding forth and doing what we would call a crash diet for 50- hours. But there was not a single government voice raised against him, the only person who had the courage to stand up to him was Aamir Khan, so this is the state of the government it has bowed in the face of fascist forces," she said. Roy termed the Centre's proposal to set up a new authority, which will review the rehabilitation process within three months and plug all loopholes, as a sham. "You would remember in October 2000 the court had given its judgement, it had told the government give me a rehabilitation master plan in three months...it is 2006 now, in six years it has still not even given a master plan and you are talking about rehabilitation. So, now in three months, how will rehabilitation happen? It cannot happen," said Roy, who had led numerous protests against the dam and was also jailed for it once. The Supreme Court in its observations while hearing an appeal by families of those displaced by the project struck down proposals for stopping construction on the dam but said those left homeless by the project must be rehabilitated soon. The NBA is India's most celebrated environmental campaign and last week got support from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Aamir Khan but the actor has faced the wrath of the BJP activists who tore posters of his films and staged protests in front of his house on Sunday.

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