Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA001031(15)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background
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Summary

We have issued a number of Urgent Appeals in the fight against the Narmada Dam Project since 1988. On 21 August 2000, a Special Urgent Appeal (SUA) on Narmada was issued through our e-mail network. The purpose was to provide a follow-up on the issue and to make known the voice of the Narmada Banchao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement), a non-governmental organisation that has been campaigning to stop the dam for several years.

Six years ago the 'Save the Narmada Movement' filed a petition against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River in Gujarat State, India. As a result, most of the work on the project had been suspended since 1994.

Regrettably, on 18 October 2000, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the long-stalled construction could resume on October 31. In its ruling, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the side of the proponents of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, saying that such projects had "made India more than self-sufficient in food. Famines which used to occur have now become a thing of the past."

The height of the dam could be raised in phases from 89 meters to as high as 138 meters with each major step in the process requiring the approval of forestry and environmental officials. The judges ordered the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra states - beneficiaries of the dam project - to care for those displaced by the rising waters. Any disputes over treatment of the displaced that cannot be resolved by dam authorities are to be referred to the Prime Minister, whose decisions will be final, the judges ruled. For more information please visit www.irn.org and www.narmada.org

In order to continue fighting peacefully for the people affected by this dam, the International Rivers Network is urging us to send letters to the president denouncing the Supreme Court ruling and reminding him that the rights of tribal people in the area be protected.

Please write polite letters to express your concern on this case and ask the President of India to use his constitutional powers to intervene to protect the rights of the adivasi (tribal people) of the Narmada. Schedule V of the Indian Constitution authorises the President to declare any law or government order inapplicable in tribal areas.

Sample Letter

Background

The Narmada River originates on the Plateau of Amarkantak in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh and winds its way westward through forests and agricultural lands until it reaches the Arabian Sea, 1,300 km away. In April 1987, the government approved two major dams of the Narmada Valley Project and the states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat were given permission to 'develop' the Narmada River and its valley.

It is expected that the project will transform the giant river into a series of large reservoirs with 30 major and 135 medium dams to be built (making it the largest single river valley project in the country), to provide irrigation and hydro-electricity to the two states. A population of 20 million - nearly half of them tribals and lower castes - live in this fertile river valley basin. Agriculture is the prime source of income here. The main crops grown are wheat, paddy (rice), millet, oil seeds, cotton and sugar cane. Over one million people face displacement.

On December 25, 1990, 2,500 people started a 250 km 'March for People Oriented Development' in Madhya Pradesh state to the site of the proposed Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat State. They were prevented from entering Gujarat State by armed police, paramilitary forces and a small pro-dam rally. They then started an indefinite fast on January 4, 1991.

As a result of international criticism of the project, in 1991, the World Bank commissioned an independent group of experts to look into the resettlement and rehabilitation schemes and into the ecological components of the project. The Review from the group contains a harsh critique of policy and planning failures on the side of the World Bank and of the Indian authorities. The Review warns of unavoidable human rights violations, considerable ecological risks and pinpoints other shortcomings of the project. It recommended a moratorium on implementation, to provide time for a thorough rethinking of the project.

In March 1993, the World Bank pulled out of the Narmada project but the Gujarat government proceeded with the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. When the 149-meter-tall (this is the planned completed height) is finished, as many as 400,000 people might have been displaced, including 19 villages in Gujarat, 180 villages in Madhya Pradesh, and 33 villages in Maharashtra. The works have been carried out in violation of a Gujarat High Court order of April 1993 stating that there should be no forcible eviction, no temporary submergence and no temporary removal of residents without complete rehabilitation.

Hundreds of farmers have pledged to stay in their villages even when the waters rise during the monsoon season. This is seen as the last desperate of farmers and indigenous people to protect their livelihood and culture. At present, some villages are submerged and some are being evicted under the threat of imminent submergence. According to a source, those displaced have not been properly resettled.

On October 18, the Indian Supreme Court dealt a huge blow to the Narmada valley and to people everywhere fighting for control of their resources and lives when it ruled 2 to 1 to allow construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project to proceed. This illogical decision was made despite overwhelming evidence that claimed project benefits will not materialise, better alternatives are available and that rehabilitation of the half a million people affected by the project is impossible.

The majority ruling allows the dam to be raised an additional five meters immediately and then in further five metre stages based on approval from government committees which have shown themselves to be controlled by pro-dam interests. Construction is expected to resume within two weeks. Most work on the project has been suspended since 1994.

Contrary to all available evidence, the ruling declares that large dams do not cause environmental damage and actually lead to improvements in the lives of those displaced. "A properly drafted [resettlement and rehabilitation] plan would improve living standards of displaced persons after displacement. Experience does not show that the construction of a large dam is not cost-effective or leads to ecological or environmental degradation. On the contrary there has been ecological upgradation with the construction of large dams."

"I think it is a very sad moment in the history of democracy. There is no other word to describe the judgement than to call it absolutely disgraceful." -- writer Arundhati Roya, a passionate campaigner against the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

"The fight has to go on. Human justice will come. People's faith in our fight gives us strength. Be with us, spare time for us." -- activist Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan.

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