India:Narmada Update

Narmada Samachar(July 2003)


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Narmada Bachao Andolan,
62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, M.P. Ph:07290-222464,  badwani@narmada.org
B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Baroda -7. Ph:0265-2282232,
 baroda@narmada.org Dhadgaon - Ph: 02595-220363
Mumbai-  pjehangir@hotmail.com,  medha@narmada.org
For more information visit : www.narmada.org
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Contents
0. Dear all
1. Raising the Height : Blatant Violation of the People's Right
2. The Discredited NCA
3. The Politics of Waters Reaching Kutchch
4. Modi and His Political Gimmicks
5. Shobha Wagh, an Activist with Grit and Silent Determination
6. Judge Yourself: False Claims Of Rehabilitation & Benefits
7. Situation in Maharashtra
8. Maharashtra's Support for SSP - At What Cost?
9. Situation in Madhya Pradesh
10. Issues in Alirajpur
11. Issues in Nimad
12. Adivasi Struggle in Muthanga
13. Situation in Gujarat
14. Economic Aspects Of SSP
15. The Gujarat Ecology Commission Report
16. The Fiery Struggle for the Protection and Assertion of Livelihood
Rights
17. The Dharna at Alirajpur
18. The Bhopal Dharna - 20th May to 22nd May
19. Dharna in Nashik - May 26th to June 5th
20. Desh Bachao Desh Banao Abhiyan (Save the Nation, Build the Nation
Campaign)
21. Inter-Linking of Rivers



dear all,

This issue of Narmada Samachar(July 2003) reaches you in yet another
critical juncture of the two decade old people’s struggle in the Narmada
valley. In the context of the illegal and absurd clearance given by the
Narmada Control Authority for the further construction of the Sardar
Sarovar Dam (SSP) from 95 to 100 Mts., the people of the Valley have
intensified their struggle to assert and ensure their community rights over
livelihood resources.
The governments are all out to bribe people and take bribes through
cash-compensation in the plains of Madhya Pradesh. With the adivasis in the
mountain ranges of Vindhya and Satpudas not responding, they are using
force to evict people, clear-fell trees and this is likely to increase in
the upcoming monsoon period.

We have challenged all this and will continue to raise questions about the
increase in the height leading to submergence and forcible displacement
without rehabilitation of thousands of families and demanding just,
land-based rehabilitation as per the policies, for the already affected.
We know our position on the financial non-viability and distributive
justice in SSP benefits is vindicated. Our views on the environmental
impacts and lack of political will to take care of those through
compensatory measures still hold good, not only the Valley but the people
of Gujarat and the World will also be watching the final results. We
continue to fight against all odds…and the struggle has to be intensified
if the governments don't budge!!

if no resolution is arrived at to the conflict related to rehabilitation by
July end and there is no progress on the matter with the Government, by the
NBA, then we will start a fiery Satyagraha from August onwards. Till then,
there will be 'Warn' and 'Watch' centers in the villages, observing the
moves made by the Governments towards rehabilitation of those families
affected at the present height of the dam. This has already been given in
writing to the Government of Maharashtra and will soon be given to the
Government of Madhya Pradesh also. In Gujarat , there is no change in the
situation, i.e. the GRA is no more functional. Extension officers are now
in charge and they have been threatening people and activists in the region.
Our struggle is not just to attain the rights and save the Valley and get
justice to the people in the Narmada Basin, it is for an alternative
people-oriented development that would not be at the cost of the adivasis,
dalits, farmers, fisher people, women and the next generation itself.
Do continue to contribute your resources, views, suggestions, money and
physical presence in order to strengthen the Andolan and to enhance the
cause of enabling social justice and transformation.
In Solidarity,
NBA Team

We respect people's right to know.
We are against patenting of intellectual property. We will appreciate and
be obliged if you reprint, reproduce and disseminate the news and views in
the Narmada Samachar.


Raising the Height: Blatant Violation of the People's Right

Once again, the Indian State has betrayed the Adivasis and farmers in the
Narmada Valley by its callous and outrageous decision to impose the
submergence and destitution on its own people. It is nothing but the
intra-border terrorism by the Indian State on its own people. It will be
not merely a doob (submergence), but a doom unleashed on the innocent
civilians.

The ancient and cohesive Adivasi and peasant communities of the Narmada
Valley will be facing the most dangerous threat to their very existence as
the Reservoir of the monstrous Sardar Sarovar Dam begins to fill this
monsoon. Their existence as a unique culture and civilization will now be a
part of the history. The most unjust and illegal clearance given by the
Narmada Control Authority (NCA) to raise the dam height from 95 to 100 Mts.
(plus 3 Mt humps) will fatally affect all the 33 adivasi villages in
Maharashtra (around 3000 families still resolutely fighting in the Valley
for just and proper rehabilitation), 28 Adivasi villages in Jhabua District
and 60 thickly populated villages of Nimad (out of a total of 193 villages
in Madhya Pradesh, about 10,000 families in M.P. alone under 100 Mts.).
Moreover, there are a few hundred families still living in the 19 dam
affected Adivasi villages of Gujarat, most of them gone back to the Valley
from the resettlement sites due to rightful grievances which are yet to be
heard.

Even the 206 odd resettlement sites in Gujarat, 6 in Maharashtra and a few
in M.P. still have hundreds of families waiting to get land-based
rehabilitation and village-wise resettlement with the promised amenities.
In this context, the people in the Narmada Valley, the adivasis and
peasants, are fighting for ensuring just and proper rehabilitation,
struggling against all odds for the last 18 years, to stall the unjust and
illegal submergence by the ill-planned SSP. From this January to June, all
the activities were focussed on bringing to light the flaws in the
government surveys regarding the number of PAFs as well as to stop further
construction of the dam, till rehabilitation of people affected under 100
Mts. is completed. But the recent decision on 13th May by the NCA has once
again exposed the most atrocious and deceitful nexus of politicians,
bureaucrats and contractors. It was the most contemptible act of political
expediency by which 12 thousand families are made to bear the cost of not
just Government's negligence and failure but callousness and cruel
non-compliance.

All the pleas and demands made so far had gone into deaf years, revealing
the utter lawlessness in our government procedures and rule by vested
interests, considering the fact that both the NWDT Award as well as the
Supreme Court Order were blatantly violated in order to safe-guard the
pro-development image of the ruling governments, whether BJP in Gujarat or
Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The present illegal
construction of the dam is on the pretext that rehabilitation is completed
upto 100 Mts. The NBA was able to expose with facts and figures that this
is a blatant lie when the Maharashtra Chief Minister agreed that he "will"
ensure complete rehabilitation of the PAFs as per the Task Force Report, as
soon as possible. All lovers of Democracy and Truth and Corruption-free
Development should see to it that the reigns of "Our India" should not fall
into the hands of a few liars, hooligans and blood-thirsty development
mongers.

The Discredited NCA

"The said NCA meeting (13th May, 03) was simply a 'Farce' and an 'Eye-wash'
in as much as it did not take any cognizance of the present status of
rehabilitation in Maharashtra as brought out by Justice Kurdukar in his
report, particularly the requirement, as stipulated by the Supreme Court,
to complete the R&R works in all respects atleast six months in advance of
further raising the height of this dam. All that happened in that meeting,
taken by Water Resources Secretary Shri Goswami, was simply a
'stage-managed' show." This was a first hand report by an honest official
regarding how the decision to raise the height of the dam to 100 Mts. was
taken on that fateful day in New Delhi. One may wonder as to how it is
possible for the officials to get away with such gross violation of policy
and the court when so much of inter-state pressure politics is involved in
it. This is "nothing else but a replica" of the present state of the
political situation in our country where a handful of vested interests can
toy with the life and livelihood security of a vast number of people.
The authenticity, credibility and accountability of government bodies like
NCA, GRA etc stands exposed and its legitimacy is fast eroding in the minds
of the people. They have violated the Supreme Court judgement as well. The
present decision deserves nothing less than public contempt and those
deceptive powers that play behind the scene must be brought to people's
court.

The Politics of Waters Reaching Kutch

Within 5 days of the damning decision of NCA, Narendra Modi had positioned
himself to take full advantage of the situation, for the benefit of his
political image and of his party, keeping an eye on the coming general
elections in various states. On May 18th, Narmada Waters were released to
some major towns and a few villages in Kutchch through pipelines, to quench
the thirst of the people. Big celebrations were conducted in Samkhyali in
which Mr. Modi once again used SSP as the "political lifeline" of Gujarat
rulers.
While NBA had always stood with the genuine needs of the people of Kutchch
and fully recognize their joy in receiving Narmada Waters, a few pertinent
questions also have to be raised in order to ensure that the dreams of the
people of Kutchch are not shattered later.
Out of the total irrigable land area in Kutchch, only 1.6 percent is in the
command area of SSP. Among the 948 odd villages in Kutchch, about 70 is
supposed to get drinking water through pipelines. Moreover, with the demand
for a share of the Narmada waters increasing all along the canal system,
how much of water will actually reach Kutchch and for how long and in what
seasons? With the SSNNL in utter financial crisis and a major part of the
canal construction yet to be done, will the waters reach Kutchch through
canals in the next ten years? (The water that has reached Kutchch through
pipelines is not for irrigation)

Moreover, the price of water required to be paid is going to be many times
the presently accepted agreements. The latest CAG report highlights this
since the pipe line itself is said to have cost not less than 8000 crores.
The Chief General Manager of Gujarat State Drinking Water Infrastructure
Co. Ltd. (GSDWIL) B. J. Vasavda puts the project cost at Rs 7230.00 crores
at 1999 prices. The enormity of the costs can only be grasped when put
against the figure of total annual plan outlay for Gujarat for the year
2002-’03: Rs 7600 crores. For a part of this ambitious pipeline network,
the Gujarat Government siphoned Asian Development Bank funds from Kutchch
Earthquake Reconstruction program, but even after playing such tactics,
Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board officer confesses that they don’t
have funds for the next phase of pipeline for Kutchch.

‘‘Rs 380 crore from ADB loan were siphoned for the first phase of the
project. For the second phase, which will cover the rest of the district,
we have no money.’’ says V T Mistry, Superintending Engineer of the
Gandhidham section of Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

And this is merely capital cost? What about Operation and maintenance
costs?
Operation and maintenance cost for such a huge centralized pipeline network
is said to inflict such a heavy burden on public finance, that it would
have a potential to dry off the outlay for other social sector
developmental expenditure. The annual Operation and Maintenance costs is
projected as Rs 1000 crores annually by GSDWIL.

Will the common citizens, including the Kutchchis, can afford to pay or
will that be the factor deciding who pays and who benefits?
The Kutchchis themselves have worries about the likely politico-economic
problems infesting the sustainability of water supply to Kutchch. They
reported that if waters reach Rajkot, then they get an upper hand over the
Kutchchis as far as agricultural markets in Northern Gujarat are concerned.
The intricacies of water politics within Gujarat are yet to be emerged and
realized. Once that happens, people on both ends, Valley and Kutchch (most
in Saurashtra and North Gujarat too) may decide to join hands and raise a
united voice and vision.
Will it not be too late?
Modi and His Political Gimmicks
The SSP being an article of faith with such emotional appeal in Gujarat,
the releasing of Narmada Waters to Kutchch had almost doubled its
legitimacy in the popular perception. Inspite of the total violation of all
the existing rules and regulations, the clearance given to the further
construction of the dam was justified by 'quenching the thirst' of the
drought affected people. Inspite of the beneficiaries being a small number,
its emotional appeal was tremendous and fully used by Narendra Modi for
more than one purpose.

The most obvious purpose is his own legitimacy as he came to power
promising Narmada waters. But the more important purpose is the upcoming
sale of SSNNL bonds. The Narmada Nigam is in such worse financial situation
that this year also they are planning to sell tax free interest bonds.
Waters reaching Kutchch was a real boost to the eroding authenticity and
legitimacy of the Nigam which is paying almost 22 percent of the total cost
of SSP (spent so far) on interest payment alone while only about 4 percent
has been used for rehabilitation works.
With the elections round the corner in many states, Gujarat BJP Government
was still able to make the neighboring Congress Governments of Maharashtra
and Madhya Pradesh yield to their advantage. Inspite of all the hype about
communal politics, Development seems to be the major weapon in the coming
State elections. Since BJP projected itself as a pro-dam party, the
Congress governments could not afford to block the dam even if on the
truthful and lawful basis of rehabilitation not being completed, obviously
fearing of an anti-development image. But that was also because the
Government of M.P., its Chief Minister was more interested in the bargain
with the Prime Minister and Mr. Modi. It is another matter that he failed
in gaining much - either projects or credit for votes!

Was he the one who influenced and took with him the comparatively more
progressive Government of Maharashtra? Whosoever did it, PM, Asarambapu
or….they fell into Modi's trap. (All of them are out to please the National
and International Capitalist lobby at the expense of the politically
powerless communities)

In any case, it is not just water nor is it Kutchch with its thirst that
has led to waters reaching Kutchch! If waters which can reach Kutchch
through pipelines as a result of the integrated by-pass tunnel which is at
89.7 mts and lower height than the main canal, Gujarat could have taken
waters to Kutchch much earlier (atleast two years ago) and also avoid large
scale displacement caused now beyond 90 mts of dam height. Why did they
wait for so long?

Shobha Wagh, an Activist with Grit and Silent Determination

Shobha Wagh, our comrade-in-arms for over half a decade, working in the
Adivasi (indigenous peoples) areas of Satpuda ranges in the Narmada Valley, with grit and
determination, died as she was trapped in the silt and waters of the Sardar
Sarovar dam in Domkhedi (Dist.Nandurbar) on Thursday, May 22. She was 25
years old and is survived by her aged parents, two sisters and one young
brother. She was mainly working with the tribal villages in Maharashtra and
the Jeevan Shalas (the Schools) of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

On Thursday, she was going to hold a meeting of the villagers of Domkhedi
and adjacent Nimgavan villages at 11 in the morning, to prepare for the
mass action in Nashik, against the unjust decision to raise the height of
the dam up to 100 meters. Before the meeting, she went for bathing in
nearby Khad River, a tributary, four furlongs away from Narmada. As she did
not arrive for a long time, people searched for her, in the river and they
found her trapped and dead, yet another victim of the demonic SSP.

Shy, gentle and frail, Shobha had the commitment to work in the villages in
mountainous terrain of the Satpuda ranges in Akrani and Akkalkuva talukas
of Maharashtra. She took special interest in the Jeevanshalas, the schools
started by the Andolan. Shobha came from an extremely poor family and was
studying second year of law when she joined the Andolan during the monsoon
Satyagraha of 1999. Hailing from a poor family and yet interested in
sacrificing for the society, despite the difficulties on the home front,
Shobha opted to live with the struggling tribals in the Satpuda villages
and that became her home for the last four years. We lost our comrade, a
caring, quiet and intense, sensitive and determined woman with a silent
conviction and determination. The level of Khad river too rose due to the
submergence water and large-scale silt deposits were accumulated in and
around the villages, even when the people continue to reside there. Shobha
was not the only victim of the submergence and siltation which are imposed
on these communities. It has become practically impossible for the people
to bathe, wash clothes and collect drinking water, as they had to wade with
difficulty through the mud, avoiding 10 to 15 feet deep mud. Tens of
cattle died as they were trapped in the silt.
In 2000 August, Lata Vasave, a third standard schoolchild from Nimgavan's
Jeevan Shala died as she fell in the river and was trapped in the silt. A
woman from Tinismal crossing the river, a young girl from Bhitada filling
the water pots too, lost their lives. Shobha is fourth such human victim of
the silt and dam water. She was given the last salute at her village
Bolthan, near Malegaon in Nashik district, while the condolence meetings
were held in Dhadgaon and Malegaon both.

- We have announced a Library in her memory to be started in Bolthan
and a Gram Utpadan Kendra (Village Produce Centre) in Dhadgaon. Do
contribute books, furniture and materials as also finance for both. Please
commit to contribute your support in other ways - planning, managing,
marketing

- We are also committed to collect and provide some financial help
to her family where she was the main earner. You too can contribute through
a cheque to Narmada Bachao Andolan sent with a letter referring to Shobha
Wagh Memorial Fund

We salute Shobha, will cherish her memory and believe that she is with us
till we attain the shared goals.


Judge Yourself: False Claims Of Rehabilitation & Benefits

While the NCA has given clearance on the premise that all PAFs under 100
mts have been completely rehabilitated, or would be before this monsoon,
not less than 12,000 (twelve thousand) tribal and peasant families on the
banks of the River Narmada will be compelled to face submergence during
this monsoon. The fact was well established through repeated surveys and
government appointed fact-finding missions. The land-based resettlement is
a cardinal provision of Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT), to which the
state governments had sworn allegiance. Knowing this fully well, the
bureaucrats and political bosses in the governments of Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra have connived to bring in flood and devastation
beyond last years’ calamitous submergence to make the people destitute.
With hardly any progress on rehabilitation with land, as provided in the
policies, this raising of the height and consequent submergence is illegal,
unjust and a clear contempt of Supreme Court’s Judgment 2000.

A. Situation in Maharashtra

Task Force Facts and Beyond…..

-The former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his government in
Maharashtra had maintained that it had no land yet located for the
resettlement of the tribal oustees of the state. It had also appointed a
joint Task Force, in September 2001, with the participation of NBA, to
assess the exact number of the affected families and status of
resettlement. The Task Force finished its job in 2002 and had come out with
shocking revelations but also clear recommendations to be fulfilled.

- According to the Task Force, there are in the original villages
568 families DECLARED as affected at full height of the of dam, while 1088
more are ‘undeclared’ ones, fulfilling the age-criterion. In their case,
decision and action could be taken by the state administration but the
bureaucracy brought in a process of assessment which didn't start instantly
with Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA), headed by Justice (Rtd) Mr.
Kurdukar. The GRA has been announcing the previously undeclared people as
PAFs and over 250 PAFs at the resettlement sites were newly declared as
oustees. But with much of the task incomplete, not just estimation of PAFs
in each village but also the planning faced a stalemate.
- Added to these 1656 PAFs are, 1277 more families located during
the Task Force survey as 'to be affected' but undeclared which need to be
declared oustees, by extending the cut-off date of 1987 that need to be
resettled. The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) and Justice (Rtd) Mr. Daud
committee – another state government appointed committee in 2001 - had
recommended this years ago. Moreover, there are 500 families already in the
Resettlement sites waiting for the Promised Land and housing plus other
facilities.
-Then there are people affected by the submergence water encircling
their villages/lands which will become marooned/inaccessible/inhabitable/
unusable. The Task Force had also ordered a survey of these lands, which is
yet to be completed and the number of families there to be added.
-There is major problem of the ‘encroachers’ in the forest. In fact
people have been living there since generations - but they are treated as
‘encroachers’, due to the inability of the State to complete the Land
Settlement in time. This process has started a few years back due to the
Supreme Court order. The enumeration work is going on haphazardly. NBA had
filed in Mumbai High Court a petition to grant land rights to these
‘encroachers’ in the 73 villages in Akrani taluk, out which 24 are SSP
affected. The Court has asked the state govt. to expedite the process.
About 1/3 of them (proposed by the Government of Maharashtra to the Union
of India) are approved by Union of India. The rights are yet to be granted
and their land/property acquired. These and other - hundreds - would
increase the number of PAFs and it is estimated that not less than 4000
hectres of agricultural land would be required for their resettlement.
Where is land?

Sardar Sarovar and Maharashtra

-Maharashtra will not have, why irrigation, any water from the
Sardar Sarovar dam, though once and only once in 1999, the Gujarat
publicity material announced that, 37,500 hectares in Maharashtra would get
lift-irrigation! This was a ridiculous claim as the hectarage command was
calculated from the water to be tapped in the Narmada Basin in Maharashtra,
before reaching the main river. This has nothing to do with and not from
the dam and the reservoir!
-Maharashtra may get 27% of the power generation from the project,
that is 390 Megawatts (installed capacity), while the firm power will be
far less (20 mw!) than that. This is again uncertain, as Gujarat has
started drawing water from the bye-pass tunnel at 90 meters, instead of 110
meters of canal.
-For this Maharashtra has to displace and resettle over 5,000
Adivasi families, it had already submerged most of its 6,800 hectares of
green forest in the submergence zone and 4200 ha. forest was cut for the
sake of rehabilitation. It will have to pay about Rs. 1200-1500 crores to
Gujarat as the cost of the dam. What for it is sacrificing all its
resources and the lives of the tribals?


Maharashtra's Support for SSP - At What Cost?

Girish Sant and Suhas Paranjapye, two of the members - non-governmental
nominees - resigned from the SSP - Cost - Benefit Review Committee in
protest of the Government of Maharashtra failing to furnish the latest cost
estimates and other data related to SSP. This has happened inspite of the
Maharashtra CM directing the Irrigation ministry to do so as the latter
calls Gujarat the culprit, openly claiming that Gujarat is non-cooperative.
Unashamed of its failure in getting due respect and status at the hands of
Gujarat, Maharashtra Government is yet to decide on the resignation while
the NBA demands that the same should not be accepted and the members should
be continued to serve towards a truthful assessment of what would the
project bring for Maharashtra?

Not a drop of water, no right to fish, not less than 2000 crores and
uncertain magnitude of power - 27% of whatever is generated, with Gujarat
drawing water at a lower level and giving no priority to power generation.
Will the cost be as high as that of Enron power? Will the price to be paid,
due to finance for other projects - in Krishna, Tapi, Godawari river basins
eg - diverted, worth it? Let our answer be withheld and the official
bipartite committee function. This is not in the interest of the Adivasis
but the people of the state and the State itself! Then why not?


B. Situation in Madhya Pradesh

Of Displacement and Resettlement
- In Madhya Pradesh, according to the state government’s own
admission last year, there were 7913 project affected families (out of
12444 in all three states) affected by 100 m. height of the dam, while
there were 12,681 PAFs (out

of total 18,000) below 110 m. height. Out of them 3360 were resettled in
Gujarat and 1670 in M.P. (below 100 m.) and of those below 110 mts, 353 in
Gujarat and 2089 in M.P. were resettled. In fact all these figures are
suspect. Whether these much oustees were actually resettled with land in
M.P. and whether so many thousands of people shifted to Gujarat is very
doubtful.

-Even if we take the government figure at face value, some 2883
PAFs below 100 meters and 6949 PAFs below 110 meters still remain to be
resettled. These figures are again presuming the total number of oustee
families in the SSP upto 40,999. But last year itself the M.P. government
had made it clear that the total number is 43,000, so the number of Madhya
Pradesh PAFs has invariably increase. Besides, as and when more and more so
called ‘undeclared’ oustees will be declared as PAFs, the number of PAFs
will rise.
- Everyone concerned knows that, it is practically impossible even
otherwise the Nimad villagers, with fertile land and large, well-settled
villages bustling with agrarian, commercial and social activities, before
the incoming monsoon.

-There is no cultivable land available to resettle them. The 4900
hectares which the state government claims to have identified, in itself
paltry in view of enormity of resettling at least 33,000 PAFs, was rejected
long back as it was thorny, stony, uncultivable and scattered in different
villages, after a joint survey with the officials. Even the land records of
the affected villages in Jhabua district, the first to face submergence in
M.P., are incomplete. The so called ‘resettlement villages’ in M.P. are
deserted as there is no cultivable land around them.

- On the environmental front, compensatory afforestation on revenue
land is practically nil in M.P., in the Jhabua district, though the
government claims that 90% of afforestation on revenue land is completed.
- The catchment area treatment is also very insufficient. This
monsoon, much more silt will flow into the reservoir, raising its bed and
leaving the banks devoid of topsoil.
The M.P. government has resorted to the illegal means of compelling the
people to accept disbursing cash compensation to the oustees – which is a
clear violation of the NWDT and Supreme Court order. Even very recently,
Digvijay Singh had committed in his written reply to his Party President,
Smt. Sonia Gandhi, that his state would ensure strict compliance with the
NWDT and the Court Judgment

Sardar Sarovar and M.P.

- The SSP will be just a heavy burden on already impoverished Madhya
Pradesh economy. Madhya Pradesh will not get any irrigation from the
project. The only benefit is the electricity, which again is uncertain as
Gujarat has started drawing water from the bye-pass tunnel at 90 meters,
instead of 110 meters of canal.

-There is no financial planning and recently Comptroller and
Auditor General of India (CAG) castigated the project authorities for a
situation where 22% of the expenditure was diverted for repaying the debt.
The project will cost the M.P. state around Rs. 4000-5000 crores.
- The Digvijay Singh government itself, in a civil suit in the
Supreme Court of India, filed in 1998, demanded the reduction of the height
of the dam as it could not resettle the oustees and state wishes to save
the fertile land of Nimad. It had made clear there is no land to resettle
all the 33,000 Madhya Pradesh PAFs and the state has no money for the
measures to ameliorate environment degradation. In lieu of the decreasing
height, the state had offered to compensate Gujarat for any losses in power
generation. Why the M.P. government abruptly changed its stance when the
ground situation remains the same, or even worsened?

Adivasi Struggle in Muthanga

The Adivasis and peasants of the Narmada valley uphold and support the
adivasis of Kerala in their struggle for the right to land. Kerala
Government should have decided on this earlier and Antony should have kept
the promises. Government decided to give deluded area within the sanctuary.
We ask for Community Forests were the adivasi communities manage and take
care of the forests.

NBA also condemns the atrocities committed by the police and the
allegations of linkages with Naxalites and other similar cases. It also
objects to the treatment of the activists by the police - the Lathi charge
- especially treatment to the CPM activists - C S Sujatha ( ex - District
President - Alappuzha), N M Krishna Das ( CPM - MP- Pallakad) and others.
Antony should keep his promise

C. Situation in Gujarat

- To justify the gross violation of human and democratic rights of
tribals and peasants of Narmada Valley, the Gujarat government has resorted
to yet another political hype and hoopla over transporting the Narmada
water through pipeline to Kutchch. The transportation of Narmada water
though pipeline is but an old idea, time and again flaunted and cancelled
by Gujarat power-holders in the 1990s.

- When the dam height was 80 meters, the then Narmada Development
Minister in the first Ministry of Kesubhai Patel in 1995, claimed that
entire Saurashtra could be provided Narmada water through pipeline with the
expenditure of Rs.100 crores. NBA had welcomed that suggestion then and
wondered if it was possible to provide water to Saurashtra with such a
minimum cost, the government should have gone ahead with it.

Issues in Alirajpur
-The 26 villages of Alirajpur tahsil (Jhabua District) to be
affected by SSP are fully adivasi (indigenous peoples) villages. Though 100 percent adivasi
belt, yet their rights are violated. The land records are not updated and
in some cases, land acquisition awards are passed in the name of deceased
persons. The so -called forest encroachments are not yet recognized. The
fact is that these adivasis were living there centuries before the Indian
State was formed.

- Another major issue is that the enumeration of affected families
is absolutely wrong with more than 500 families being omitted. Where will
this people go in the wake of impending 'doob' - submergence?

- The area of submergence is not properly surveyed. There are many
villages / hamlets, which will become islands when the reservoir fills in, but are not
being considered as affected families.

- Most of the PAFs of this area prefers land in MP but are not being
given. Instead they are receiving ex-parte allotments in Gujarat.

- All these people have been facing submergence without
rehabilitation and total destruction of crops from 1994, but no
compensation is provided for the losses occurred during submergence. In
this context it should be remembered that Maharashtra Government had
declared lakhs of rupees as compensation for their adivasi PAFs but not
Madhya Pradesh.


Issues in Nimad

- Some villages are 100% adivasis (indigenous peoples) yet their rights too are being
violated. Hundreds of major sons are yet to be recorded.

- Hundreds of PAFs were compelled to accept cash compensation after
Government declared that they had no land. Enumeration of affected families
is therefore incomplete

- Area of submergence is not properly surveyed . Even the adjacent
houses are left out of the records and sometimes upper houses are included
but lower ones are left out

- Many who want land in M.P. are being forced to accept ex-parte
allotments in Gujarat which they have rejected, yet they are declared as
'resettled'

- Construction of "avaid makaan"(illegal construction of buildings)
being encouraged by officials

- Corruption in distribution of cash compensation

- Land acquisition process has been pursued irrespective of people's
objections / nazaria survey / distribution of cash compensation

- R&R sites not ready/ R&R sites do not have land

- Temples / mosques and other religious / cultural / archaeological
sites being submerged but no shifting of these structures

- During this monsoon, thickly populated villages with facilities
such as schools, hospitals, tarred roads will be facing forced

submergence. The devastation will depend upon the rainfall.


- It is queer why on earth the Gujarat government waited till the
summer of 2003, when the people could have been provided the piped Narmada
water much before? It seems that the ensuing elections have provided
another opportunity for Narendra Modi to milk the holy Narmada cow again.
He had done this twice before, in Rajkot in 2001 when he was contesting a
bye-election from there and later in Ahmedabad in 2002 when, again, he
announced elections. At both the places, the short-lived Narmada waters
might have reaped electoral bounty, but did little to alleviate the chronic
water problem.

- Again, this is just the ‘drinking water’ component of the promised
Narmada water. The major assurance in the Narmada Project is that of the
irrigation water for 37,000 hectares of cultivable land in Kutchch. It must
be pointed out that out of proposed irrigation of 18 lakh hectares from the
project, at the most 1.6% of the total cultivable land in Kutchch (37,000
ha.) and 9.2% land of Saurashtra would get water from the Project. Hardly
2% of the total water from the dam is kept for Kutchch, while the Gujarat
government claimed more water from the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal
(NWDT), in 1969, on the assurance that the dam would provide irrigation for
11 lakh hectares of Kutchch. Government of Gujarat used the Rs. 600 crores
of loan by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Kutchch Reconstruction, for
Narmada based Drinking Water Pipeline project (The Hindu, 20.5.2003).

- Even this present piped water is also an illusion. It is only a
matter of time, when politically powerful areas, which lay between the dam
and Kutchch, from Bharuch, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Kheda to North Gujarat, will
claim on the Narmada water. It is now clear that the Gujarat government has
no political will to implement the long term, sustainable and decentralized
water-management plan, as it is the real and lasting solution for the
drought prone areas. Nearly 85-90% of Gujarat budget is consumed by the
SSP, leaving no money for other projects and schemes.

- In many rehabilitation sites of Gujarat oustees in Gujarat, people
are becoming more and more restless with grievances increasing day by day.
We have first hand evidence that in some sites, authorities have removed
the electricity meters which were provided to the people initially as part
of their rehabilitation package. They now live without electricity. It took
all these years before people could discern the tricks played by the
authorities.

- Even canal water has become inaccessible to them. They have to pay
Rs 1200 for drawing water from the canal (using their own diesel pumps) two
times a year. For this they are given false vouchers as receipts. These
receipts have no signature or zeal. In short, people have been squeezed off
the little they by corrupt officers. For a people who lived and cultivated
for generations on the banks of the Narmada River by drawing its free
flowing water, facing the corrupt bureaucracy and the cut-throat market
economy has become a fate accompli. The only way out is to realize their
rights and might, organize and fight for their livelihood rights.

Economic Aspects Of SSP (Excerpts from article by Himanshu Upadhyay)

Irrational economics: skewed cost-benefit assessment from the start:
The cost-benefit ratio of the SSP has been negative from the start itself.
The most conservative estimate arising from the appraisal conducted by Tata
Economic Consultancy Services at 1981-82 prices, indicate an adverse
cost-benefit ratio, 1: 1.39, far below the stipulated 1: 1.50, which is a
pre-condition for granting financial clearance for any major project. When
official World Bank Project Appraisal team, which visited India three times
in 1985 scrutinized the TECS analysis, they found that certain costs were
blithely deleted, when they added whopping Rs. 1098 crores cost deletions
to the base cost estimated by TECS i.e. Rs. 4887 crores, the revised
cost-benefit ratio arrived at was 1: 1.17.

The total cost of the project is soaring day by day, not just because of
time over runs and corresponding burden of inflation, but because of two
important reasons. One that many costs had been under estimated or not
counted at all (e.g. cost of drainage or even merely capital cost of much
touted drinking water component of SSP Rs. 7230 crores at 1999 prices) and
secondly because the SSP demands ridiculously high annual input of funds -
with high burden of debt and interest payment resulting in the situation of
indebtedness - failing which the costs do escalate.

TECS said; “the project cost is substantially larger than the entire public
sector investment for Gujarat in the Sixth Five Year Plan”. TECS had an
audacity to reflect on ridiculously high input of funds in comparative
term, but it never bothered to ponder “wherefrom will finances to such a
high size would come?” It never gave it a thought that can SSP ever be
financed without bending over back to international financial institution,
or without crowding out budgetary expenditure on other developmental
activities, without shrinking social sector expenditure? This gloss over
suggest how the nexus of planner, politicians and contractors pushed SSP –
a prototype of reflecting political economy of privatization era. Many of
the costs of the environmental mitigation measures and Rehabilitation costs
too are not fully estimated as yet, since many of these impacts (like
Compensatory Afforestation, Catchment Area Treatment, Downstream Impacts)
themselves still remain to be assessed fully and the related action plans
too are far from getting finalized, and 22 years after NWDTA, Narmada
Control Authority has admitted that submergence zone has increased by 13
percent than the earlier estimates, and may increase further, the number of
affected persons increasing and the land for rehabilitating them not
identified as yet.

Debt Servicing, An Impossible task ahead:

Even in 1995, it was evident to Gujarat government that SSP was not
financially viable. A confidential study conducted by Gujarat government
found that the SSP would be delayed beyond 2010, primarily because of the
no availability of requisite funds on time. What the study had found is
interestingly revealing to quote; “the trend clearly indicates SSNNL’s
ability to raise funds through this source (i.e. bond issues guaranteed by
tripartite agreement) on a sustained basis is doubtful. It is unlikely that
the irrigation water would be priced in a manner that would reflect its
true cost. The power component is relatively small, and would be used
mainly for peak load requirements”. The study further predicted: once the
principal repayment commences, a large portion would be eaten up by the
debt servicing requirements.

CAG indicts SSNNL for imprudent market borrowings:

Comptroller and Auditors General of India in its report for Gujarat
(Commercial) for the year ended on March 31, 2001 indicted Sardar Sarovar
Narmada Nigam Ltd for raising resources through market borrowings for this
capital intensive project in an unjustifiable manner. Here is what they
have said: “It was seen in audit that the components of cost towards
interest charges and debt servicing were not identified while submitting
the original investment proposal to the Planning Commission. Further, the
revised cost estimates prepared in 1991-92 also did not indicate
expenditure likely to be incurred on account of debt servicing and interest
charges. As on 31 March 2001, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) had
incurred expenditure of Rs 10978 crores, of which, expenditure of Rs 2413
crores (22 per cent) was towards interest charges and servicing debt
liability”. CAG pointed out in details the deficiencies noticed during
Audit in market borrowings.
Mounting interest payments, Sinking under Debt: Slouching towards default?
CAG in its report has criticised the SSNNL for an utter lack of debt
management policy. It says: “the state government had directed (January
1996) the SSNNL to create a sinking fund out of its own resources with ad
hoc contribution of around Rs 500 M annually. SSNNL, however neither
created such a fund nor proposed any alternative arrangement for
liquidating the debt liability arising out of issue of bonds. SSNNL thus
without any systematic plan for redemption of the debts went on borrowing
for redemption of earlier debts, which resulted in abnormal increase in the
expenditure on servicing of the debt.” While giving the year wide break up
for SSNNL’s outstanding Debt, CAG points out that from 2001-’02 to
2013-’14, i.e. the next 12 years, SSNNL will have to serve the Debts worth
Rs 12282 crores. Which means every year SSNNL will have to pay Rs 945 crores
to bondholders from whom it has borrowed the money in indiscriminate and
unsystematic fashion.

SSP may turn out to be sinking ship for Gujarat Economy, not a lifeline:
Comptroller and Auditors General of India in its report for Gujarat (Civil)
for the year ended on March 31, 2002 has warned that the Gujarat government
‘is gradually getting into a debt trap’ by violating ‘the cardinal rules of
debt sustainability’. Not only have revenue receipts and state’s own
resources during 1997-2002 failed to increase at the same pace as debts,
there is a decline in the net availability of funds from the borrowings, as
‘a large portion of the funds are used up in debt servicing’. During past
five years Gujarat govt’s Interest Payments obligations have risen
threefold.

Here is how it shot up to such a high mark with a steep rise:

1995-’96 Rs 1328.00 crores 1996-’97: Rs 1610.00 crores 1997-’98: Rs 1884.00
crores
1998-’99: Rs 2262.00 crores 1999-’00: Rs 2808.00 crores 2000-’01: Rs
3131.00 crores

During the year 1999-’00, Interest Payments was as high as three times what
the State was spending on Public Health. During the year 2000-’01, it
amounted to 14% of the Revenue Expenditure, and it was three and a half
times what the state was spending on Public Health. In the year 2001-’02,
the Interest Payments surged a steep high by witnessing a 30% increase,
over the previous year. For the year 2002-’03, the Budgetary allocation
towards this head amounts to Rs 4900 crores, which is yet again 15.6%
higher over the payments in the year 2001-’02.
So, for past few years the Interest Payments has witnessed a steep rise and
it has become the largest head of the state government’s Revenue
expenditure, surpassing what government spends on Education, Sports, Arts
and Culture, which is the highest head of the Revenue Expenditure towards
Social Services. Which means compared to what the state spends on any of
the area of developmental expenditure under social sector, it spends more
on the Interest payments.

The Gujarat Ecology Commission Report

The latest indictment of the dam has come from the Gujarat Ecology
Commission (GEC), a state government commission. In its report of March
2001, the GEC says,
"…A glance at the map of the command area of the (Narmada) project clearly
indicates that, large areas of water deficit regions would not get any
water from the Narmada Project. As many as 35 out of 53 taluks having dark
or over exploited status of ground water development, are outside the
command of the Narmada Project. As a matter of fact, Narmada waters will
serve only 22% of the cultivable land in the 53 taluks where ground water
is over exploited".
One has to read between the lines when the GEC observes that, ".... the
problems of degraded water resources in the form of fast declining quantity
and quality of the ground water in large parts of the state and water
logging and salinity in the command areas of the irrigation projects shall
become severe with time."

It is the tears of tribals and peasants in Narmada Valley that Modi and his
ilk are playing with. It is all the more painful to see Digvijay Singh and
Sushilkumar Shinde supporting Modi, going out of way for facilitating his
objectives – electoral or otherwise- by violating legal provisions and the
constitutional and human rights of the tribals and peasants in their state.
There was no compulsion to rush to submerge their own people without a
proper land-based resettlement, with the participation and consultation
with the people’s organization. That much these CMs could have done,
despite intense pressure from Gujarat Chief Minister, Prime Minster’s
office and the Union Home Minister, a staunchest supporter of Modi.

The Fiery Struggle for the Protection and Assertion of Livelihood Rights
In the context of NCA giving clearance to the further construction of the
dam without rehabilitating the people, it has become imperative on the part
of the affected people to fight for their livelihood rights on a war
footing. While maintaining the position earlier taken by the people that
they will not move out of the Valley until proper rehabilitation procedures
are completed, it has become obvious that living in the Valley has become
impossible with waters going to rise much higher than during last year's
submergence. Especially the 33 adivasi villages in Maharashtra and the 28
adivasi villages of Jhabua in M.P. will be affected severely with another
60 villages in the Nimad belt of M.P. facing submergence, many of them for
the first time.

Hence from this year onwards, the struggle for land-based rehabilitation
has been intensified. But a major hitch was the irregularities in assessing
the correct number of PAFs, especially in M.P. In Maharashtra, thanks to
the Joint Task Force, atleast the numbers are almost accurate corresponding
to the ground reality. But the M.P. government is unwilling to conduct
proper, participatory surveys for the fear of numbers increasing by large
margins. They have been trying to reduce the number of PAFs by making a
distinction between permanently affected and temporarily affected.
According to this line of argument, only the 4 fully submerging villages
and those houses and lands, which will be permanently under the waters,
will be considered for rehabilitation. All other areas where floodwaters
enter for two to three months and then recede, will not be considered as
affected! This is an absurd judgement, totally ignorant of ground realities
and completely violates the NWDTA requirements. But M.P. Government is
adamant to continue with the grave mistakes (or crimes?) they are
committing.

The Dharna at Alirajpur.

It is in the above said context that the NBA sat on an indefinite dharna in
Alirajpur from 21 February, which culminated on 12th March 2003.

The main demands were:
1. The correction and updating of the number of PAFs as well as land records
2. Inclusion of families left out on the basis of permanent- temporary
divide, as encroachers etc
3. Immediate commencement of the rehabilitation of families living even at
80 mts of the dam, in the land of their choice, i.e. M.P.
4. Insistence on the proper functioning of the Grievance Redressal
Authority (GRA)

Hundreds of affected people sat in front of the Thahsildar's office from 21
February onwards. But even after more than a fortnight of intense struggle,
the authorities did not respond adequately. The Jhabua Collector, who is
responsible for correcting and assessing the records of land holdings,
number of PAFs etc behaved in a dubious manner.

There were more than 500 petitions given to the GRA Shri. Sohniji. But he
has accepted only two of them. With the others he was demanding birth
certificates, school and other certificates, totally ignorant of the fact
that many villages like Bada Amba, Dubkheda, Anjanwara do not even have
schools in their villages, let alone systems for issuing birth
certificates! GRA listens only to the authorities and not to the people.
Such centralized systems do not really care for the people or take them
seriously. Though Government of M.P. talks about the Panchayati Raj, but in
reality they are not valid in many respects. For example, the identity
cards issued by the Panchayat are not valid!
While the M.P. Government has taken crores of rupees from Gujarat
Government for Rehabilitation, they have not provided lands for Adivasis or
Dalits of the Narmada Valley!

This means that the Government was unwilling to affirm the rights of the
adivasis, guaranteed by the constitution and the NWDT Award.

The Bhopal Dharna - 20th May to 22nd May

To raise protest against the callousness of the M.P. Government in
supporting the NCA decision and to demand immediate application of the
NWDTA stipulations, NBA barged into the Bungalow of Deputy Chief Minister
Sharad Yadav on 20th morning. The people sat on dharna and demanded
immediate response from the authorities. Finally Sharad Yadav appeared in
front of the people and humiliated them and refused to heed to people's
demands. The NBA decided not to move from his house. By evening police were
given orders to arrest and remove the people. About 193 people including
Medha Patkar were arrested and put in Jail. Since Medha Patkar started an
indefinite fast until the people are released, she was hospitalized and put
in the ICU. Her fast was a symbolic protest against the humiliation meted
out to NBA by Mr. Sharad Yadav.

Finally after two days of deliberations and negotiations people were
released on bail.

Dharna in Nashik - May 26th to June 5th

Announcing her indefinite fast at the dharna place in front of the
Divisional Commissioner's office, at Nashik on May 30th, Medha Patkar
clarified that the Andolan was constrained to take up such action, as the
Maharashtra government has become so insensitive regarding even minimum
legitimate demands by the tribals about their least entitlements. " This is
a reflection of the recent acts of the new Maharashtra Chief Minister and
the ruling class, against the values of equality and a definite bias for
the corporate powers. The misuse, appropriation and the denial of the
natural resources of the people is a highest kind of corruption", she said.
In the Dharna which started from 26th May onwards, the progressive trade
unions, political parties and organizations in Nashik area actively
participated and demonstrated in front of the Divisional Commissioner's
office on May 30, in support of its demands and compelling the government
to start the process of the just resettlement. On Thursday (May 29), main
activists including Pratibha Shinde, Khayali Vasave and Thobya Vasave and
the supporters from Nashik Mrs.Sumitra Jhavar and Dr. Vijay Gawali observed
a 24-hour fast demanding the immediate rehabilitation.

She wondered and expressed pain and anguish at the obdurate stand of the
Maharashtra government regarding the resettlement of the tribal oustees,
which has remained a problem due to its own intransigence and willful
denial of the rights and entitlements of the tribals in the Narmada Valley.
"Why Maharashtra government is not conceding that it had squarely failed to
honour its own promises and the recommendations of the committees appointed
by itself? We wonder why it is now unwilling to resettle the 3000 tribal
families whose lives are endangered by its own act, knowing fully well - as
we have been shouting hoarsely for last so many years, with facts and
figures and with the law on our side? Does the government expect people to
accept the destruction of their lives without any alternative and keep
quiet?"

The government was inactive regarding the recommendation of its own Task
Force Report, which was submitted in July 2002. The report has exposed the
serious anomalies regarding the number of the oustees, the false
discrepancy between 'declared' and 'undeclared' oustees.
However, as the situation has unfolded, not a single day has to be lost if
the rights and life of thousands of tribal people in our state has to be
saved. The government therefore -must start acting at once for the just and
proper rehabilitation of the over 3000 families that will be affected by
the submergence due to 100 m. dam. It will be futile and meaningless to
resettle the people in a scattered manner according to the different
heights. It will be just and according to NWDT stipulations to resettle all
the families as one unit at one place. There is a need to find such chunks
of irrigable lands to resettle at least 3000 PAFs in Maharashtra, show
these to the people, purchase the land chunks they choose, finalize all the
resettlement procedures and relocate all those below 100 meters.

"The time for a detailed investigation and enumeration has gone now; the
government had deliberately lost it as it wished that people should bear
the cost of its failures. We will not allow this to happen; often the
governments had done so in the past. We want the governments to be
responsible and accountable on all fronts. So, the process of resettlement
of all the 3000 oustee families should be started on war-footing, but with
proper procedure and diligence, must be completed on war footing, before
the onset of monsoon and submergence. Hereafter, there should be no further
increase in the height of the dam before all the oustees below that level
are fully resettled at least six months before", she said.

Government has conceded NBA's main demand during its activists' meeting
with Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in Mumbai on June 4th. The
Government has agreed to rehabilitate all the affected people, keeping away
the dispute of "undeclared and declared" beneficiaries.

The Government has also accepted NBA's demand of not distributing lands
without consulting the affected people and to make village-wise planning
for rehabilitation instead of taking up individual cases.

During the discussion Shinde expressed surprise over the permission given
to increasing the dam height by 100 meters and said secretary level officer
V N Lal, allegedly involved in giving the orders, has already been
transferred.

Finally the Nashik Dharna achieved some amount of success when the
Maharashtra Cabinet agreed with the NBA demands and gave their word in
writing. The process for implementing the rehabilitation before monsoon has
started on a war footing.
Desh Bachao Desh Banao Abhiyan (Save the Nation, Build the Nation Campaign)
The National Alliance of Peoples Movements (N.A.P.M.) has initiated the
Desh Bachao Desh Banao Abhiyan to raise the clarion call for all struggling
People's Movements and Organizations to unite and fight against the
twin-headed demon i.e. Globalization and Communalism.

From January 26th till march 30th, a team of more than 60 members traveled
through 19 states of India, conducting more than 360 meetings and
campaigns, involving various sections of people from landless tillers to
factory workers, from intellectuals to artists, from Gandhians to Marxists,
instilling a new zeal to work towards the transformation of our
degenerating sovereign, socialist, democratic Republic.

The Abhiyan started from Plachimada village in Palakkad District of Kerala,
where an intense struggle is going on against the Coca-Cola Plant which is
causing havoc to the surrounding villagers by sucking more than 50,000
litres of underground water through bore wells. The campaign culminated in
Faizabad-Ayodhya, thus establishing the link between Global Capitalism and
Regional Communalism.
Apart from linking people in different parts of the country towards a more
unified, though complex, vision for liberative action, the campaign was
able to coin a statement towards future action known as the Ayodhya
Declaration. (For details, see www.andolan.org)


Inter-Linking of Rivers - A National Disaster

The move to link the Gangetic and the Peninsular Rivers is going ahead and
people are coming together in protest against this catastrophic plan. Even
ex - bureaucrats and people from all walks of life are raising their voice
to stop this over-ambitious and foolish plan which will have permanent and
disastrous effect on our present water sources, riverine communities and
the economy itself.

When many possible alternatives are not even tried, the government's
intention to go ahead with this plan in a high-handed manner, raises
serious democratic questions regarding decentralized planning,
transparency, information dissemination and the like. In various meetings
NBA talked about this and stated this as part of the four National Issues
focussed by the Desh-Bachao Desh-Banao Campaign.


DROWNED OUT

DROWNED OUT, 75 minutes, ©2002 ,Produced by Spanner Films LTD, A film by
Franny Armstrong is a study of the devastation caused by India's Narmada
River dam project. "Drowned Out" follows the Jalsindhi villagers through
hunger strikes, rallies, police brutality and a six-year Supreme Court
case. It stays with them as the dam fills and the river starts to rise...
Drowned Out doesn't preach, yet it condemns the dam-builders through their
own words. It is impossible to watch this film without being pierced by the
clear, small voices of the villagers.

WORDS ON WATER

Shot and edited over a period of three years, Words on Water, Directed by
Sanjay Kak
Run time: 85 minutes, is a film about sustained non-violent resistance, in
a world where the use of violence has become the arbiter of all political
debate. It¹s about the Satyagraha, the assertion of truth, which empowers
the people as they struggle for their rights, yet saves them from the
ultimate humiliation of violence.
The film has been screened at International film festivals in Hong Kong,
Italy, Slovakia, Thiruvanandapuram and most recently in Brazil (where it
won the prize for the Best Long Documentary)

"AMU ADIVASI"
An audio cassette containing Adivasi songs sung by the adivasi girls of the
Narmada Valley. This was an initiative of AID, India. The full
transliterated text, with its meaning in English is available along with
the cassette, thus making it possible for the outside world to feel and
participate in the culture and spirit of the Adivasis in the Narmada Valley.

HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION (HIC) REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2002

The Final Report of the Fact Finding Mission of the HIC "The Impact of the
2002 Submergence on Housing and Land Rights in the Narmada Valley" (52
pages) has brought out the actual facts (with photographs)
about the grave situation in the Narmada Valley with regard to
Displacement and Rehabilitation of SSP and Man Dams. Inspite of their
recommendations and warning to National and International authorities, dam
height is being increased without completing rehabilitation, making 2003
monsoon even more terrible for the people living in the valley.

* To access any of these materials, you can contact the Badwani or Baroda
office through Phone or e-mail given below.

Urgent Appeal
- The Dam height has already reached 100 mts. By the time you
receive this issue, it will be 100 mts plus the 3 mts humps. This monsoon
will cause terrible disaster in the valley, especially in the Adivasi
areas, where thousands of families are still residing and refusing to move
out till land-based, community rehabilitation and other amenities are
ensured.

-Please come and spend time in the valley, before, during and after
this year's monsoon, to strengthen the people, to help in the relief
operations and to witness the truth to the outside world.

- Do contribute generously, considering the fact that the entire
struggle is based on the financial support from friends all over India. It
is your struggle . Please sustain it through cash and kind. (The NBA only accepts financial support of indian nationals)



Narmada Bachao Andolan,
62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, M.P. Ph:07290-222464,  badwani@narmada.org
B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Baroda -7. Ph:0265-2282232,
 baroda@narmada.org
Dhadgaon - Ph: 02595-220363
Mumbai-  pjehangir@hotmail.com,  medha@narmada.org
For more information visit : www.narmada.org