AN URGENT APPEAL FROM NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
C/o B-13 Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Vadodara - 390023, Gujarat
Telefax: 0265-2282232, baroda
narmada.org
62 M.G Marg, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh - 451551 Telefax: 07290-222464·
Maitri Niwas, Tembewadi, Dhadgaon, Nandurbar Ph: 02595-220620
15th March 2006
AN URGENT APPEAL FROM NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
Dear Friends,
Enough is enough. For how long more will farmers, dalits and adivasis be sacrificed at the altar of development?
20 years of struggle and yet again the communities on the banks of the Narmada are on the brink of government - induced disaster. Without having rehabilitated the thousands of families that are affected at the present height of the Sardar Sarovar dam, the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have now managed to get clearance for further raising of the height of the dam by 12 metres, upto the height of 121 metres! At least 35,000 families currently live in the original villages (submergence zone) of 121 metres in all three states, yet the governments are ready to flood and drown these living, vibrant communities. That these families are not rehabilitated is reflected in the statements of the Water Resources Minister, Saif-ud-din Soz, who has gone on record to say that he is not satisfied with the situation of rehabilitation and wants to review the decision given by the NCA.
But the issue is not just about Narmada. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The same story gets repeated over and over in all the dams in the country. We are all very much aware of the state of those displaced by Tehri dam and the numerous other dams that are completed or being completed. At the same time, hundreds of new dams are being planned and going ahead, such as Polavaram, Tipaimukh, and the highly destructive Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) Project which involves several dams and unprecedented displacement! The police firings on unarmed Adivasis protesting so-called 'development' have been all over the news. The eviction of slums in almost every single city, all in the name of "beautification" of the city has become an everyday issue.
Everywhere in this country, people are being thrown out of their lands; losing control over there natural resources and their lives and livelihoods, all in the name of 'development'. While this goes on relentlessly and ruthlessly on one hand, on the other there is not even a National Rehabilitation Policy to provide some legal remedies to threatened communities.
Several movements have been raising these issues very much like the NBA, which has done so for the past 20 years and continues to do so.
Now with the threat of 121m, THE PEOPLE OF THE NBA WILL BE ON AN INDEFINITE DHARNA AT JANTAR MANTAR IN NEW DELHI FROM 17th MARCH, 2006 ONWARDS. Please join us in Delhi to raise all our issues together and to challenge the government of such massive injustice. Several of you have been raising these same issues and a mutual solidarity has always existed. We hope that your organisations would be part of this dharna both in solidarity and to highlight the issues of development paradigms and rehabilitation practices.
In solidarity,
Bawa Mahariya, Kamla Yadav, Dipti Bhatnagar, Medha Patkar, Noorji Padvi, Raiji Deva, Ashish Mandloi, Yogini Khanolkar Narmada Bachao Andolan
Contact numbers: Ms Medha Patkar: 09869446684, Dipti Bhatnagar: 09879536407, Mrs Pervin Jehangir (Mumbai): 09820636335
Contact Numbers in Delhi: Vimalbhai: 09891814707, Delhi Forum: 011-26680883, 26680914, Rajendra Ravi: 09868200316
For more information please visit 
http://www.narmada.org/
2006 | narmada | www.agp.org (archives) | www.all4all.org