BUOYED BY the latest report of the World Commission on Dams recommending greater social and environmental impact assessment and transparency in decision-making, the National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) has asked the State Government to spruce up
its act and rehabilitate displaced people at the earliest.
Led by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, almost 700 people from the NBA, National Fish Workers Forum, Girni Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, Koyna Jeevan Hakk Sangathana, Rewas-Mandwa Airport Affected People, Dabhol and Esselworld affected people and
other organisations participated in a rally at Azad MaidanOn Tuesday.
The NBA will hold a Narmada Sangharsh Parikrama, a street march through the dam-affected villages of Madhya Pradesh from April 4 which will culminate in a public rally at Indore on April 10.
Patkar said that in spite of over 2000 projects implemented in the State over the years, rendering lakhs of people homeless and without jobs, rehabilitation policies have remained on paper. "The issue of development planning needs to be addressed
immediately. In the last 53 years, no project in this country has been implemented according to rules,” she said.
“The state bulldozes over people's homes and livelihoods without a care. When people give away their property to the state, it should be treated as an investment in the project and not sacrifice", she said. The World Commission on Dams Report, November
2000, will be released in India on April 25.
