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NBA Urgent Appeal/ Updates

  1. Urgent Appeal/ Action Alert
  2. land occupation update
  3. SARDAR SAROVAR: OUSTEES ASSERTING THEIR RIGHTS THROUGH LAND OCCUPATION/ SATYAGRAHA DEMANDS LAND-BASED REHABILITATION

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1. Urgent Appeal/ Action Alert

Narmada Bachao Andolan

Urgent Appeal
14 July 2007

Dear friends/comrades,

The land occupation action near Badwani (M.P.), about which you have already been updated, has exposed a very serious situation with regard to rehabilitation of SSP affected families in Madhya Pradesh. Government does not have sufficient cultivable lands for allotment to Project Affected Families (PAFs). Hence they have been resorting to the illegal cash compensation.

Now, M.P. government may resort to forcefully evict the people from the occupied lands and then continue to play the deceptive game, violating the legal rights of the affected families. The new action has drawn much attention of the common people to this 'land-base' created.

If this conveys to you a major step ahead, DO WRITE to

Sonia Gandhi - "Save adivasis, save land and river",

Saif-ud-din Soz - "Save people, by not raising dam height, send NCA team for investigation and dialogue”.

To NCA, Mr. Afroz Ahmed, Director (Rehabilitation) – “hold dialogue with the agitators; compel the state government to ensure that people get their due land and every other right.

Also to Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister of India and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister. (Contacts given below)

DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO SUPPORT THE STRUGGLE, AT THE EARLIEST, INCLUDING SENDING VOLUNTEERS.

Regards,

Medha Patkar   Ashish Mandloi   Kailash Awasya   Khajan Bhai

SAMPLE LETTER BELOW:

Dear,

The situation in the Narmada valley demands your urgent attention. The people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam have been agitating for the last 22 years, demanding land-based rehabilitation, which is their legal right.

When thousands of hectares of lands are acquired and given for SEZs and other Mega Projects, why there are no cultivable lands to allot to the people displaced by Sardar Sarovar dam, especially in Madhya Pradesh?

I urge you to take a pro-active step and ensure land-based rehabilitation to the SSP affected families. There should be thorough investigation of facts with people's participation and democratic dialogue with agitators, instead of use of force.

No more destructive submergence in the valley during this monsoon. Permission should not be given to raise the gates of the SSP until all families affected at 122 meters of the dam height are declared and resettled as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) award and Supreme Court orders.

To
Ms. Sonia Gandhi
The Chairperson, Indian National Congress
Fax: 011 23018651
Email: 10janpathvsnl.net, soniagandhisansad.nic.in

To
Shri Saif-ud-din Soz
Water Resources Minister
Fax: 91-11-23714200, 11-23714663, 11-23711780 (off), 11-23782032 11-23782034 (res)
E-Mail: ssaifsansad.nic.in, minister-mowrnic.in

DR. AFROZ AHMED
Director (I.A.& R.)
Ph: 0731-2558603, Fax: 0731-2554333
dir.rehab.ncanic.in

To,
Shri Shivraj Singh Chowhan
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Fax: +91-755-2540501; +91-755-2551781
Email:cmmpchiefminister.com,cmmp.nic.in

To,
Shri Manmohan Singh
The Prime Minister of India
Fax: 011 23019817, 23016996 ®
E-Mail pmosbpmo.nic.in, http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm

To,
Ms Meira Kumar
Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi – 110001 (India)
Ph: 011- 2338 1001, 2338 1390
E-mail: min-sjesb.nic.in

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Pervin - 09820636335
Suniti S.R. - 020-24251404
Philip - 09446573795
Delhi Forum - 011-26680883

NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, M.P. Ph. 07290-222464 nba.badwanigmail.com
Maitri Niwas, Tembewadi, Dhadgaon, Nandurbar, Maharashtra. Ph: 02595-220620
C/o B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Vadodara -390023 Ph: 0265-2282232

2 land occupation update
14 July 2007

Today is the second day of the land occupation of Government seed farm (near Badwani, M.P.). Hundreds of adivasis, farmers, fisherfolk families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam participate in this ‘satyagraha' with increased vigour and commitment. The adivasis from Jhabua district (M.P.) who have lost land to the reservoir are here to assert their rights.

Since neither Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) nor the administration gave a final approval to allocation of land, which people did identify and demanded to be purchased by the Government, the adivasis decided to take the responsibility and task of distributing land up to themselves. Adivasis of Kakrana, Jhandana, Anjanwada, Bhitada, Kharya Bhadal are busy cultivating the new land occupied, even when the Collector, Badwani threatened of legal action. Hundreds of Nimad farmers, with best of agriculture and horticulture, are raising their voices against the lost motor pumps and any raising of the dam height.

Movement of the slum displaced from Mumbai, Nandurbar - Maharashtra, Indore (M.P.) sent their representatives to extend their support.

It's shocking that the Collector, Badwani only thinks of our actions as illegal and not of the legal, Constitutional and human rights violations involved, in drowning our land and houses, destroying our social, cultural heritage and encroaching upon our livelihoods, destitutionalizing us. We are aware of our right to life, to livelihood, to land for the same.

We can't remain silent and peaceful anymore, when more than 2 lakh people are still residing in the submergence area of Sardar Sarovar Dam alone. When the state is callous and ready to drown us, we can't merely protest through this Satyagraha but also acquire what is our due.

The Collector, Badwani talked to the Press indicating the Government's duty to apply law and evict us to vacate their land. He only sent the SDM and Tehsildar who were openly questioned by the people yesterday. Today, they all seem to be getting ready to the use of force against us. Eviction is nothing new, but here that would mean "government has no resolution in mind, it has no land even to offer, leave aside allot!"

Ashish Mandloi   Kailash Awasya   Khajan Bhai & Medha Patkar

NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, M.P. Ph. 07290-222464 nba.badwanigmail.com
Maitri Niwas, Tembewadi, Dhadgaon, Nandurbar, Maharashtra. Ph: 02595-220620
C/o B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Vadodara -390023 Ph: 0265-2282232

Press Release/Appeal
13 July 2007

3. SARDAR SAROVAR: OUSTEES ASSERTING THEIR RIGHTS THROUGH LAND OCCUPATION SATYAGRAHA DEMANDS LAND-BASED REHABILITATION

Farmers affected by the Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) dam have occupied 100 acres of government land reserved for seed farm, in Badwani district, Madhya Pradesh as an expression of a well known principle: expropriators must be expropriated, Narmada Bachao Andolan [NBA] announced today.

Hundreds of affected adivasis and other farmers, including river-bed cultivators, have started cultivating this land as their right, since theirs is already destroyed by or acquisitioned for the dam, with no alternative land given. They will stay on the land, plough and sow it, plant trees and hold dialogue to exchange vision and views as also to strategize further, NBA said.

“It's obvious that in spite of special packages land for 11,000 families, 90 resettlement sites, right to 5 acres of land for each major son of affected family, that SSP-affected could seek through long struggle of past 22 years, much remains to be done and attained,” Medha Patkar said. “No appropriate and sufficient land is in sight and hence the adivasis in the hilly areas who are determined to get land for land as their right, including mostly those who led the struggle with commitment and vision that is known to the world and all of us. The fight has to be on”, she said.

Sardar Sarovar is getting filled (a massive water body, even though partial) with water flowing through the vast catchments as well as large dams upstream. The threat of submergence looms over 2 to 2.5 lakh people, residing in the submergence area till date. With the illegality and injustice continuing to be imposed, the farmers to fish workers will commence Satyagraha from tomorrow, since there has been no response to the honest and reasonable demands and their life is being drowned and doomed.

Satyagrahis made a nation-wide call to initiate different actions to ensure that the State does not evict the people forcibly and repression is not resorted to. They warned that they would not be cowed down by the State's pressure tactics and asserted that national and international human rights organizations would be keeping an eye on the developments in the Narmada valley.

Ashish Mandloi (09993449644), Yogini Khanolkar (09423944390), Kailash Awasya

DEMANDS OF THE SATYAGRAHA

I. NO SUBMERGENCE TILL REHABILITATION IS COMPLETED AS PER LEGAL MANDATE

2.Water in the upstream dams and in Sardar Sarovar should be regulated in such a way that there would be no submergence beyond previous years, keeping minimum level at the dam site.

3.Those families whose land/house was or will be affected without rehabilitation should be fully compensated. These should include the river-bed cultivators, farmers and with irrigation pumps submerged, fish-workers losing fish and those with lands/houses drowned without rehabilitation.

4.Those at rehabilitation sites, who have not received cultivable land and all other entitlements, should not be declared as "rehabilitated" and they too should be taken into the full participatory process.

II. FULL COMPLIANCE WITH RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION (R&R) POLICY AND SUPREME COURT ORDER

1.Land must be allotted to every eligible family beginning with adivasi families in Jhabua by the Government of M.P. Private land, of the PAFs choice, that can be purchased and denuded forest land should be made available.

2.Special Rehabilitation package, which is illegal cash payment in lieu of land allotment, must be cancelled.

3.Fish workers displaced by the project must be given their right to fisheries in the reservoir without allowing any outsiders, contractors.

4.The massive corruption through SRP by way of fake registries, must be exposed, all registries investigated and declared as cancelled. The accused persons in the FIRs must be arrested immediately.

5.All the complaints regarding names of PAFs, major sons, land holders, widows, excluded houses, affected lands left out; tapu land not surveyed, nor acquired; house plots not allotted; allotted lands/ plots not usable; farmers' amenities and agricultural land in the vicinity etc, should be settled in the Gramsabhas, publicly announced at least 8 days before the date. A task force must be appointed with officials from all departments - NVDA, Revenue, Forest (in the case of forest villages and adivasis on forest land)

6.Number of PAFs affected at various levels and number of PAFs eligible for land is under-represented in the official reports as well as affidavits. This should be re-checked and corrected, correlating various estimates and the ground reality.

7.The PAFs who were allotted land in Gujarat, but were cheated, must be given alternative land either in Gujarat or in Madhya Pradesh, with their consent.

8.Village level committees formed for rehabilitation should be reconstituted based on Gramsabha recommendation. District level committee should be formed with nomination and election from village level committees.

9.Each and every resettlement site must be maintained to the last detail through special teams from NCA and the final certification of the site to be complete and ready as per the policy for those already affected. The categorization of good, average and bad sites are not fully acceptable and plots at each site are not enough for all PAFs in the concerned village.

10.A review of compensation for house to check if replacement value is paid, as per the Govt. of M.P. policy should be carried out (clause 2.4 of policy for Narmada Projects)

11.Wherever only Nazaria survey (survey by sight) was carried out, a re-survey of houses should be planned and executed with participatory approach. This is as per Shunglu Committee Report.

12.Land to become Tapu must be surveyed in all villages and acquired or decision should be taken with the villagers

III. MONITORING:

1.Narmada Control Authority's (NCA) monitoring must improve, be frequent and regular (once in 3 months at least) in each village and each R&R site, through independent, impartial teams who should work in association with PAFs

2.Grievances Redressal Authority's (GRA) camps should be held in the affected areas or at tehsil place and not far off

3.GRA should be asked to give its own directive and not dispose off the case through Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA)

4.R&R sub-group and NCA must visit the affected area and R&R sites, every 3 months till the situation is critical and thereafter every 6 months. At least three representatives of Narmada Bachao Andolan, the organisation of PAFs should be taken as members on the R&R sub-group.

5.A full, comprehensive and truthful status report on rehabilitation, in the framework of NWDTA, state policies and court orders, must be prepared by NCA on R&R of all states affected by SSP, which should be detailed and factually correct, and made public as well as submit to the Supreme Court.

6.An independent and capable, experienced, non-profit Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) agency should be appointed for each state immediately.

URGENT APPEAL

WE EARNESTLY APPEAL TO ALL SUPPORTERS TO GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTE IN CASH OR KIND. WE WELCOME DONATIONS OF CLOTHES, UMBRELLAS, TARPAULIN SHEETS, FOOD GRAINS AND CASH. FOR DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT THE PERSONS GIVEN BELOW.

Contacts:
Mumbai – Pervin Jehangir - 09820636335, 022-22184779
Pune - Suniti S R – 020-25211404, 09422048967
Shahada - Shyam Patil – 02562-246419, 09423496020
Indore – Chinmayabhai, Sarvodaya Press Service – 0731-2401083, 09893278855
Vadodara- Rohit Prajapati – 0265-2320399

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