Crops and houses destroyed, anti-dam activists arrested

Heavy rainfall in recent days has caused water levels to rise dramatically behind the partly built Sardar Sarovar dam on India's Narmada River. The homes and crops of hundreds of families of adivasis, or tribal people, have been destroyed.

Villagers and activists who refused to leave riverside houses in protest against the notorious dam project have been arrested. More than 25 women and men are being held in judicial custody on charges of abetting suicide. Around 50 other members of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) are still standing in flooded houses in riverside villages.

The reservoir rose suddenly on the night of Tuesday, August 20, local time. By Thursday evening the water was reported to be receding but continued rain upstream may cause the reservoir to rise again.

"This disaster is the result of raising the dam without ensuring that affected villagers are ensured proper rehabilitation on new lands," says Malavika Vartak, South Asia campaigner for International Rivers Network. "It is an outrage that the authorities are arresting those whose lives are being destroyed by the dam, rather than meeting their demands for justice."

"In the short term, the Indian authorities should immediately open the sluice gates in the dam to reduce flooding upstream and should release all those arrested," says Subramanya Sastry of Friends of the River Narmada. "In the longer term. there should be no further raising of the dam until negotiated agreements are in place to ensure affected people are justly rehabilitated."

The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada is one of the world's most controversial development projects. Opponents have challenged the dam on environmental, economic, social and cultural grounds. The reservoir would submerge 245 villages forcibly displacing more than 200,000 people Those who have moved to resettlement sites face hunger, debt and other hardships due mainly to inadequate land, fuel, fodder and drinking water.

Most of the land to be submerged is in the state of Madhya Pradesh with smaller affected areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat. The dam itself is in Gujarat, the state which is to receive all the water to be supplied by the project. Cheaper and less destructive ways of meeting Gujarat's water needs have been ignored in the state's determination to build the prestige Sardar Sarovar Project.

For over 17 years, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has led the resistance against submergence without rehabilitation through non-violent protests. The Satyagraha launched every monsoon (from June to September) involves people refusing to move from their homes and lands even as the water around them rises.

On May 17th 2002, the Narmada Control Authority, the interstate monitoring body for the dam, allowed for it to be raised by 5 meters (15 feet) from its then height of 90 meters (270 feet). This decision, taken under pressure from the Gujarat government, was made in spite of the damage raising the dam could cause to the homes and livelihoods of thousands of families that remained to be resettled.

The decision to raise the dam was challenged by the NBA in the Supreme Court. Although the Court has yet to issue a ruling on the matter, construction of the extra five meters has been completed. If heavy monsoon storms hit the Narmada the homes and lands of nearly 10,000 families could be submerged for a period lasting between a few days (for those on higher ground) to many months (for those living nearer the river).

The dam is planned to reach a final height of 139 meters.

IRN is a California-based environment and human rights organization which supports the rights of communities facing the impacts of destructive water projects and advocates for sustainable and equitable water and energy management.

Friends of River Narmada is an international coalition of organisations and individuals (mostly of Indian descent). FORN is a solidarity network for the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) and other similar grassroots struggles in India.