Activists Of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) staged a dharna on Thursday outside the main entrance of Shastri Bhawan, which houses some of the important ministries including the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, demanding that further
construction on Sardar Sarovar dam be stopped immediately.
The activists, led by NBA leader Medha Patkar and Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy, alleged that the order of the Supreme Court on the rehabilitation of the dam oustees was not being implemented.
Patkar said the government had assured the oustees that they would be fully rehabilitated before raising the height of the dam.
"But even the 3000 and odd families, affected by the present height of the dam, have not been rehabilitated. Over 4000 families will be affected if the height of the dam is raised from its present 90 metres to 100 metres," Patkar said, adding that about
40,000 families were residing in the reservoir area of the dam.
She warned that if proper rehabilitation of the oustees was not done, the tribals and villagers would not move out from their present dwellings.
Patkar said the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had already stated that they had no land for the rehabilitation of dam oustees.
She rejected the proposal to compensate the dam oustees with cash instead of land saying that this would violate the basic essence of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award.
