[Reader-list] Fwd: Open Challenge to Sardar Sarovar

[Joe Athialy]

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>AN OPEN CHALLENGE TO SARDAR SAROVAR DAM ENGINEERS
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>Withdraw statement that 3.42 crore units electricity will be 
>produced daily by SSP dam.
>Or sign a legally enforceable bond to pay the shortfall below Rs. 
>2500 crore every year.
>    * Open Letter from Faculty, Scientists, Engineers and other professionals
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> <http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada_petition/executive.php>Executive 
> Summary
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> <http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada_petition/factsfiction.php>Facts 
> and Fiction: Power Generation in Sardar Sarovar Project
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>Open Letter from Faculty, Scientists, Engineers and other professionals
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>We the undersigned science and engineering faculty, working 
>professionals and graduates from universities across the world take 
>a strong exception to the misuse of science for promoting human 
>rights violation.  The builders of the Sardar Sarovar dam in 
>Gujarat, India are advertising unrealizable benefits in terms of 
>power and irrigation and luring their nation to increase the dam's 
>height to 121.9 mts. despite the fact that 35,000 families are still 
>living in the submergence zone without rehabilitation.
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>On April 2 2006 the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) engineers stated 
>emphatically in a major newspaper that 3.4 crore units  of 
>electricity valued at Rs. 7 crore  will be generated every day once 
>the SSP dam's height is increased to 121.9 mts [Indian Express 
>Article]. Annually this would amount to Rs. 2500 crores of electricity.
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>It can be easily demonstrated that this claim is false and involves 
>gross misuse of data. It is not possible to generate electricity 
>daily worth anywhere close to 3.4 crore units or Rs. 7 crores  from 
>the SSP.  We have provided references from the Narmada Control 
>Authority web site that includes a table of the expected electricity 
>generation as projected by the "Central Electricity Authority" of 
>India as well as of independent energy experts all of whom project 
>substantially lesser power.   The facts regarding the power 
>generation of SSP, and the basis for our stand are explained in the 
>attached note "Facts and Fiction". For example, in 2004, the Chief 
>Engineer (NVDA) claimed that M.P. state would get 370 MW of power, 
>but in the next 20 months, the state received only an average of 85 
>MW. We are compelled to believe that the dam engineers know very 
>well too that their statements are false, and this amounts to 
>serious deception of the public. In a country like India that is 
>short on energy, holding such a patently false oasis of hope is as 
>cruel as saying that people are rehabilitated when they aren't.
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>It is very important to understand the burning context for this 
>false propaganda. On March 15, 2005, India's Supreme Court took note 
>of the lagging rehabilitation and ordered halt to further 
>construction until each and every affected family was rehabilitated 
>as per the norms of Narmada Tribunal Award. However, in March 2006, 
>without meeting those norms, and despite objections from the Union 
>Minister for Water Resources, the dam construction has resumed.
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>Hundreds of affected families are protesting in the national capital 
>New Delhi facing callous arrests. Renowned social activist Medha 
>Patkar and two affected people from the Narmada villages have 
>started an indefinite fast (satyagraha) to uphold the truth. Today 
>is Day Six of the fast, and the health of the activists including 
>Medha Patkar is in peril.
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>While this Gandhian struggle for rights is on, we 
>scientists,  engineers and working professionals are aghast that in 
>a national newspaper in India, the dam engineers are highlighting 
>false information to sway the public from supporting the struggle. 
>It is extremely important in the 21st century as we try and become a 
>developed nation, that we set high standards for both scientific 
>achievement and human rights. The issue is not only one of the 
>displaced people but also whether science can be misused without 
>being challenged by other scientists. We will not allow this to happen.
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>Medha Patkar and others are on an indefinite fast, backing what they 
>are saying with actual personal commitment. What personal commitment 
>can we expect from the Sardar Sarovar engineers who have said that 
>the SSP will generate Rs. 7 crore a day or Rs. 2500 crore of 
>electricity a year??
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>We challenge them to sign a bond with the displaced families of the 
>Narmada valley and citizens of India, that they will personally make 
>up the loss of any amount that is short of Rs. 2500 crore of 
>electricity generated each year. This money should be divided into 
>three parts -- one part should go to the displaced families equally, 
>the other to every citizen of India whom the engineers have sought 
>to mislead and the final part should go to human rights movements of 
>the world. We estimate the loss to be about Rs. 1500-2000 crores a 
>year in the initial years before the canal network is completed and 
>rising to Rs. 2300 crores a year once all the waters are diverted 
>for irrigation purposes to the canals of the Narmada river valley projects.
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>Can the Sardar Sarovar engineers sign the bond? We challenge them 
>to. Or they should take back the false promises, issue a public 
>apology and stop construction of the dam. We would be delighted if 
>they joined the fast of the affected people, whose purpose is to 
>uphold the truth.
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