[Reader-list] Eminent People appeals to Prime Minister of India to respond on the grave scenario in Narmada Valley

[Asit Das]

Eminent People appeals to Prime Minister of India to respond on the grave
scenario in Narmada Valley

August 23, 2016



*Dear Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi,*



It’s with a heavy heart that we want to bring to your attention the plight
of the communities affected by the Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) dam.



We are sure that you are conversant with a lot of facts about the dam,
having relentlessly pushed the dam height as the Chief Minister of Gujarat,
despite the rehabilitation far from complete, and having given clearance to
complete the dam, with gates, on the 17th day of your Prime Ministership.



However, the fact that there are thousands of families and a few lakhs of
people residing in the villages yet to be rehabilitated is something which
either the officials are wilfully concealing from you, or you fail to take
cognisance of.



Additionally, there are no less that 15,900 families who are declared to be
outside the submergence zone, (even after granting them part of the
rehabilitation entitlements) with a stroke of a pen, that too after 30
years since the dam was planned and approved is something which astonishes
us to no limit. Can the lives of our citizens be so valueless that a few
bureaucrats can paly around with their plight as effortlessly as this?



As a Prime Minister who ran an election campaign on anti-corruption plank,
we expected you to take exemplary action against officials in Madhya
Pradesh involved in the corruption as exposed by Justice S.S.Jha
Commission, unearthing corruption to the tune of not less than Rs. 1500
crores in the fake sale deeds of land meant for the affected communities.
Instead, we are witnessing an endorsement of the same, with you and Chief
Minister of Madhya Pradesh taking no action, and instead, letting to go the
dam complete based on false records.



You are no stranger to the fact that this project has been in the center of
controversy for the past three decades. Apart from the colossal human
rights violation, the project has been plagued with bad planning, skewed
allocation and unviable financials.



What else, when 100s of people displaced in 1960’s for the colonies of the
dam are sitting on a relay fast in Kevadia colony since last June 15,
demanding full rehabilitation and employment for the ones not given land,
and the government of Gujarat has taken no initiative until now for a
composite dialogue, what can others expect?



Hundreds of women and men affected by the dam is on a Satyagraha at
Badwani, Madhya Pradesh since July 30th. The people in the Narmada valley
deserve the *insaniyat* you talked about the other day referring to the
developments in Kashmir (ironically at a rally in Alirajpur, a tribal
district in Madhya Pradesh affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam, where a few
hundreds are yet to be rehabilitated).



We, the undersigned concerned citizens, appeal to you to:



1.     Not allow the dam gates to be closed, until complete rehabilitation
is done, and

2.     Engage with Narmada Bachao Andolan, the people’s movement of 31
years, in a dialogue, aiming to develop a just and complete rehabilitation
plan.



We are hopeful that as the Prime Minister of the largest democracy, you
will stand upto the rights of the people in Narmada Valley.



Sincerely yours,



*Irom Sharmila*, Social Activist

*Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh*, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan

*Adml (Retd) L. Ramdas*, former Chief of Naval Staff

*Lalita Ramdas*, Human Rights Activist

*Harsh Mander*, Social Worker and Writer

*Anand Patwardhan*, filmmaker

*Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere*, VSM (Retd), Mysuru

*Dr. Sunilam*, former MLA, Madhya Pradesh

*Suhas Kolhekar*, National Alliance of People's Movements