No Bombs, No Dams: Stop Destruction and Displacement
Narmada Valley resonates unitedly against submergence of 245 villages
by Sardar Sarovar Dam
Jeevan Adhikar Yatra marches ahead in tens of villages
Narmada Valley | 8th August, 2015: As the Government of India races
ahead to complete the monstrous Sardar Sarovar Dam upto 139 mts, with
installation of 17 mrs radial gates, sounding the death knell of 2.5
lakh people in the Narmada Valley, thousands of affected villages gear
up for an intense struggle to face the rising waters and the might of
the State, challenging the illegal and unjustifiable genocide of hilly
and plain area adivasis, dalits, farmers, fish workers, labourers,
potters, small traders etc. in the name of “development”, without
rehabilitation.
Marching ahead from village to village as part of the Jevan Adhikar
Yatra, from Khalghat to Rajghat (6th to 12th August) hundreds of
women, men and children with banners, slogans, drum beats, jingles,
songs and dance demanded the “Right to Life”, questioning the
destruction being forced upon them, by the submergence of living
communities, in the name of “progress”. Thousands of villagers have
decided to launch an indefinite satyagraha, on the banks of Rajghat,
Badwani from the 12th, August.
Addressing the oustees at Khalghat on the first day of the Yatra
coinciding with the Anti-Hiroshima Day, senior journalist, Sarvoday
Press Service, Shri Chinmay Mishra said that the people of Narmada
have been fighting and winning in every phase of the 30 year struggle.
Drawing a comparison between the recent back-foot of the Modi Govt. on
the Land Acquisition Bill and the SSP anti-SSP struggle, he stated
that if the Narmada valley rises in unision, the Govt. must relent on
the issue of Sardar Sarovar as well, since the decision to raise the
dam and submergence of the valley is rooted in fraud and illegality.
Senior anti-mining activist from NAPM, Rajasthan, Shri Kailash Meena
addressed various village gatherings and extended full solidarity to
the struggle and called the SSP, a symbol of political “jhoot” and
corporate “loot”. He called upon the people to resist the onslaught on
the land, lives and livelihoods of the natural-resource based
communities.
Medha Patkar stated that after 30 years of resilience, the present
phase of the struggle, is the most crucial test for the Andolan and
people of the valley; It is a battle between justice and injustice,
between truth and lies, between development and destruction. It is a
choice between life and death and we don’t have a choice, but
struggle, she said, administering a “Sankalp” to the hundreds of
oustees, with Narmada waters in their hands.
Chetan Salve spoke of the adivasis of the Maharashtra who have
asserted the right to land over years and obtained land based
rehabilitation at R&R sites, similar to the adivasis of Pichhodi and
Bhadal of M.P. and exhorted the oustees to fight for their human
rights.
Young supporters from various cities including from Programme for
Social Action, Delhi; Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, Mumbai; Ferguson
College, Pune participated in the Yatra and extended their solidarity.
Over the past three days, the padyatris have met and interacted with
hundreds of farmers, landless, fish workers, shop keepers and other
oustees in village after village in Manavar and Dharampuri Tehsils,
encountering thousands of cases of denial of right to alternative
land, house plots, alternative livelihood. Most of them continue to
remain in the original villages where schools, panchayats, temples,
mosques, shops, countless trees exist, along with the agriculture and
livelihoods. Very few families have shifted to the resettlement sites,
where the civic amenities as per law are still unavailable or
inadequate and many sites are still uninhabitable, with severe
problems of water, health. Day 1:
Khalghat, Pipaldagadhi, Nimbola, Sala, Dharampuri
Day 2:
Hatnavar, Sulgaon, Khatadgaon, Gogawa, Kothada, Sarasgaon, Jalkheda,
Day 3:
Malangaon, Bada Barda, Sharikpura, Perkhad
Game of Numbers: Back Water Fraud Exposed: Future of 16,000 families
in dark: In what can be termed as one of the biggest frauds of our
times, the Narmada Control Authority has in the name of “revision “ of
back water levels, unlawfully and unscientifically thrown 16,000
families “out of submergence”, all of who were previously declared as
“affected” and have also been given partial R&R benefits. In
virtually every village, the yatris met, oustees exposed this fraud,
in the light of the severe submergence of 2012-23, during which the
dam back waters already crossed the “revised” back levels or was only
a few feet below.
Shockingly, as per website data of the Govt. of Gujarat of March,
2015, the BWL of Khalghat is shown as 149.84 mts, while the entire
decision–making to exclude the oustees is on the basis of BWL 144.92
mts. This game of numbers is a game being played by the officials with
the lives of thousands of people. People stated emphatically that the
cumulative impact of Narmada, tributaries such as Chidi, Gangli,
Khujawa, Maan, Mandwadi and water from the nallahs in the event of
heavy rains and water releases from upstream dams would be devastating
and if and when the dam with 17 mts is completed, it would lead to a
watery grave for thousands of families.
Walking from village to village, through the mains streets and the
green fields, the oustees expressed determination to intensify their
struggle and not leave villages without all the legitimate questions
of the Andolan, without the Modi Government proving the costs and
benefits of SSP and without alternative cultivable lands, livelihoods,
house plots and other amenities as well as fishing rights being made
available.
The kids of the Jeevanshalas (life schools in the valley) and the team
of young people filled the air in every meeting with enthusiasm, with
their songs and sounds. More than a hundred yatris representing
oustees from different villages including Ekalvara, Semalda, Pichhodi,
Pendra, Piplud, Kadmal, Khaparkheda, Jangarva, Chikalda, Kothada,
Bajrikheda, Bhavaria, Kharya Bhadal participated in the Yatra. The
yatra, which is taking the form of a mass uprising in the Nimad region
is to proceed towards the villages of Badwani and Kukshi tehsils over
the next few days and culminate in the inauguration of a mass
satyagraha at Rajghat on the 12th, where thousands would assemble to
face the rising waters.
Bhagirath Namrata Mukesh Kesar
Ph: 09179148973 / 09826811982
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