NEW DELHI, August 8 - Environmental activists Friday called for the immediate rehabilitation of thousands of villagers whose lives are endangered by the rising waters of a controversial dam over the river Narmada in northwest India.

A statement issued by environment groups says police officials are forcibly evacuating villagers living along the Narmada, The river - where the Sardar Sarovar dam is being constructed - in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh has been in spate this rainy season.

"A grim situation awaits more than 1500 families in Maharashtra and 12000 families in Madhya Pradesh who face submergence this monsoon due to the rise in the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam to 100 meters in May of this year," the groups say.

To protest the lack of rehabilitation measures, villagers in the Narmada Valley are on a peaceful sit-in from August 6. Two representatives of the tribal communities are on a relay fast in Maharashtra's Chimalkhadi and Nimgavan villages.

"...if there is no substantial progress before the next submergence or flood, then the Satyagrahis (peaceful protestors) will take a different and more intensified step," warns Kiran Kumar Vissa of the U.S.-based Association for India's Development.

Sardar Sarovar is the largest dam being built on the Narmada. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) -- a group that has been spearheading a campaign against the dam -- says the government's claim that the dam, once completed, will irrigate more than 1.8 million hectares of land is "grossly exaggerated."

On the flip-side, the activists hold, the dam will displace thousands of people from their villages. "The Sardar Sarovar Dam will affect at least 43,000 families," says NBA member Sukumar.

The environment groups, including the Association for India's Development, Friends of River Narmada and the International Rivers Network, have urged the government to speed up the rehabilitation of people whose villages are in danger of being submerged.

"The state governments have violated their pledges to ensure fair and complete rehabilitation of the dam-affected people," the groups stress.

Activists allege that villagers are also being harassed by the police. On July 28, a police force forcibly evicted the residents of village Chimalkhedi in Maharashtra. The village has turned into an island, surrounded by the rising waters of the Narmada.

"The police force destroyed homes, let cattle loose and forcibly evicted the villagers, arresting 76 people including women, children and activists," the groups say. "We severely condemn the use of police brutality and arrests of indigenous peoples and activists."

The activists point out that after a sustained campaign, the government of Madhya Pradesh had promised to resettle villagers who were going to lose their land to the dam. "(But) it is yet to take any concrete steps although they have agreed to work with village-level bodies on land-for-land rehabilitation," it says.

In May this year, the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) - a government-run body - authorized an increase in the height of the dam from 95 meters to 100 meters.

"This was in the face of abundant evidence that the most basic requirements of fair and just resettlement and rehabilitation of affected people had not occurred even at the 95-meter level," the groups stress.

NBA leader Medha Patkar went on a fast from May 30 after the decision to raise the height of the dam was taken. "She broke her fast on June 6, 2003, after a faxed assurance from the state government of Maharashtra that they would give land of their choice to all displaced persons and families, withdraw the police cases against them, and provide compensation for all the damage to be caused by this year's submergence," says Vissa.

The NBA stresses that despite assurances, villagers still live in a state of uncertainty, worsened by a minor earthquake, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale, that struck the region on July 26.

"No proper steps have been taken by any government," says Sukumar. "There is no other option but to fight," he declares.

In May last year, the height of the dam was increased from 90 to 95 meters. The environmentalists maintain that houses were swept away and fields submerged in the rainy season from July to September.

The Maharashtra government, according to the statement, had agreed to pay about US $76,000 as compensation to villagers whose crops and houses had been submerged. "The families are still in the valley awaiting their rightful land-for-land rehabilitation," the groups say.

"There is a lack of will in the government to either rehabilitate all those affected by the dam, or to find alternatives to mega-projects such as the Sardar Sarovar," protests Sukumar.

The Supreme Court of India had ruled three years ago that all those evicted should be compensated with land at least six months before their villages were submerged.

The groups have urged the governments "to keep their promises" and ensure the complete rehabilitation of all dam-affected people.

Copyright 2003 OneWorld.net

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