narmada | archives of global protests

Draft for protest-letters

you can use (and forward to other concerned people) the following draft letter (see also attachment) to send a fax message to the Prime Minister of India and to the Minister of Water Resources or to an Indian Embassy, in support of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) activists, who are on hunger strike. Demand that

• This project gets fully reviewed- before it goes any further.
• The people who are already affected by the present height of the dam get fully rehabilitated.
• The forced and unjust displacement of the people in the Narmada Valley stops immediately.

For more information about the Narmada Bachao Andolan visit http://www.narmada.org

Prof. Saifuddin Soz Minister of Water Resources Shramshakti Bhavan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi Ph: 011-23714200 Fax: 011-23710804 Residential phone and fax: 011- 23782032 Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi Ph: 011- 23016857, 23012312 Fax: 011- 23019545, 23016857 Res: 011- 23015603 Dear Sir, We are writing to express our deep anguish about the recent approval by the "Narmada Control Authority" to raise the Dam of the "Sardar Sarovar Project" from its present height of 110m to 121m. This decision forced representatives of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) to start an indefinite hunger strike on March 29th . We understand that the further construction of this dam will cause the destruction of homes, fields and livelihoods of the people, who are living in more than 200 villages within the Narmada Valley. The Supreme Court of India, in accordance with international law, mandated the oustees of the Narmada Valley, in its orders of October 18, 2000 and March 15, 2005, to a land-based rehabilitation. We understand that even at the present height of the dam thousands of people in the Valley are still waiting to be rehabilitated. In this light the approval, to increase the dam´s height, means to withhold the oustees of their rights and to push the project ahead through illegal and un-institutional means. We also understand that the people, while demanding the fulfilment of their rights, have been repeatedly facing imprisonment, lathi-charge (riot-stick) and other forms of brutal repression. We urge you to make every effort to ensure that the violation of rights of the people stops immediately. In this context we urge you to make every effort to ensure that: This project gets fully reviewed- before it goes any further. The people who are already affected by the present height of the dam get fully rehabilitated. The forced and unjust displacement of the people in the Narmada Valley stops immediately.

narmada 2006 | narmada | www.agp.org (archives) | www.all4all.org