INDIA-NARMADA: ANTI-DAM ACTIVISTS END HUNGER PROTEST
NEW DELHI, Dic 17 (IPS) - ACTIVISTS OPPOSING THE MASSIVE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT ACROSS THE NARMADA RIVER IN WESTERN INDIA HAVE CALLED OFF A NEARLY MONTH-LONG FAST FOLLOWING A RECENT RULING OF INDIA'S APEX COURT AND INVESTIGATIONS BY A LAWMAKERS PANEL.
MEDHA PATKAR, THE CHARISMATIC LEADER OF THE ANTI-NARMADA DAM CAMPAIGN LATE FRIDAY CALLED OFF THE HUNGER PROTEST IN THE CENTRAL INDIAN CITY OF BHOPAL, SAYING HER STAND WAS VINDICATED, NEWSPAPERS REPORT FROM BHOPAL SATURDAY.
PATKAR WAS PERSUADED TO CALL OFF HER PROTEST BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF THE CENTRAL INDIAN DAM BENEFICIARY STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH (M.P.). PATKAR AND THREE OTHER ACTIVISTS BROKE THEIR FAST WITH A GLASS OF8MILK ON FRIDAY NIGHT, THE REPORTS SAID.
SHE IS REPORTED TO HAVE PRAISED THE M.P. GOVERNMENT FOR SUPPORTING THE NARMADA VILLAGERS AND SAID THAT IT WAS ENCOURAGING THAT THE COURTS HAD STEPPED IN TO QUESTION DECISIONS WHICH AFFECT THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS PEOPLE.
EARLIER, AN ALL PARTY TEAM OF MADHYA PRADESH LEGISLATORS WHICH TOURED RESETTLEMENT SITES IN ADJOINING GUJARAT STATE, FOUND "GLARING IRREGULARITIES" IN RESETTLING NARMADA VILLAGERS, THE REPORTS ADD.
IN THEIR INTERIM REPORT TABLED IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, THE LAWMAKERS SAID THAT POOR QUALITY LAND WAS ALLOTTED TO THE 600 FAMILIES FROM SARDAR SAROVAR SUBMERGENCE VILLAGES IN M.P. WHO HAD ACCEPTED RESETTLEMENT. MOREOVER, THE OWNERSHIP OF THE NEW SITES WAS DISPUTED.
DISSATISFIED WITH POOR CONDITIONS IN THEIR NEW HOMES, MORE THAN HALF THE RESETTLED FAMILIES ARE DETERMINED TO RETURN TO THEIR OLD HOMES IN THE NARMADA VALLEY, THE TEAM FOUND.
THE TEAM ALSO RAPPED THE GUJARAT GOVERNMENT FOR BEING INSENSITIVE TO THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE NEW SETTLERS.
ON DEC. 13, INDIA'S SUPREME COURT ASKED THE NARMADA CONTROL AUTHORITY (NCA) WHICH IS THE TOP POLICY MAKING BODY FOR THE THREE-BILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT, TO STUDY THE FINDINGS OF A YEAR- LONG INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE DAM.
THE COURT ALSO ORDERED THE GOVERNMENT TO PUBLICISE THE FINDINGS BY FIVE EMINENT EXPERTS FROM VARIOUS DISCIPLINES. THE REVIEW REPORT HAD BEEN KEPT UNDER WRAPS FOR MORE THAN FOUR MONTHS UNDER THE ORDERS OF A LOWER COURT.
THE SUPREME COURT'S DIRECTIVE TO THE NCA TO IGNORE ALL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS IN CONSIDERING THE REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS IS A MAJOR VICTORY FOR ANTI-DAM ACTIVISTS.
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