INDIA: Put an immediate end to plans of inundating people without rehabilitating them 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learnt about the imminent threat to lives of thousands of families in the Narmada Valley which encompasses large tracts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh through an urgent action alert issued by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). The NBA has learnt about an impending meeting of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) in a day or two to take a decision on raising the height of the water in the Sardar Sarovar Dam from 122 meters thereby displacing about 40000 families that continue to live in the dam’s catchment area. This, if allowed, would be in direct contravention of the court orders which proscribe any increase in the height of dam until all families are fully resettled and rehabilitated and this includes getting land for land. As per the current situation, only 11000 thousand families have received land-for-land. The decision, therefore, would gravely endanger the well being of thousands of families as they have no other source of livelihood. It would also adversely impact their food security and might push them into starvation.

The AHRC therefore fully endorses the NBA’s call for an immediate halt on the NCA’s meeting to deliberate on increasing the height of the water in the dam. The AHRC also calls upon the state to stick to its legal and moral responsibility to compensate those who have lost, or are in danger of losing their land and livelihood.

CASE NARRATIVE:

With the news of the Narmada Control Authority meeting to raise the height of the dam on the anvil, thousands of families residing in the valley are living under immense fear of being displaced without being rehabilitated and resettled yet again. In confirmation with the Court’s order of not increasing the height of the dam until complete rehabilitation and resettlement of the Project affected people, the height of the dam has been stopped at 122 meters since 2006. Six years after that order, only 11000 out of about 40000 families have been resettled with a comprehensive package including land-for-land that continues to be a legal requirement for any further increase in the height of the dam.

Though the very fact that 11000 families have been rehabilitated is a historic first in India, it neither takes care of the remaining thousands of families nor offers them any hope for the future but instead jeopardises their livelihood and food security. The families living under this imminent threat of displacement and devastation include thousands of those from the most marginalised and vulnerable Dalit and tribal communities. They are entitled to get land-for-land as per the orders of the honourable Supreme Court of India but are still waiting for the same. Forget agricultural lands, thousands of the families have not been given even residential plots to-date.

Similar is the predicament of thousands of landless families who were supposed to get alternative livelihoods as per the Court’s order and are still awaiting the same. Adding to the woes of people is the fact that the rehabilitation process has been plagued by monumental corruption worth crores of rupees. The problem is so grave that the High Court had constituted a commission to investigate the corruption charges in almost every area of rehabilitation. The terms of reference of the commission included:

a) Fraudulent payment of compensation to the ineligible/fake persons and properties
b) Irregularities and corruption in house plot allotments
c) Corruption in payment of livelihood grants to the landless oustees with fake claims of purchase of productive assets
d) All cases of excluding eligible persons referred to in the various interim applications filed by the petitioner

This Commission has been working relentlessly for the past four years. The High Court has ordered that the rehabilitation of thousands of tribal families) and farmers can neither be deemed to be complete until the Justice Jha Commission accepts, nor until the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments provide cultivable, irrigated land along with house plots and other amenities at rehabilitation sites. The Court has also recognized the fisher-folks rights to fish in their reservoir and held that their co-operative societies must be recognised and registered by the state.

The report of the Commission on which depends the veracity of compensation claims made by the government is due to be released only in October 2013 thereby rendering any claims to the contrary meaningless. The NCA cannot, therefore, make the decision of raising the height of the dam until the report is made public. Further complicating the situation is the fact of how the NCA would address and account for serious anomalies in the resettlement and rehabilitation process if the report finds that to be the case, which many believe is going to be the case after increasing the height of the dam. The NCA must ensure that people are given their legitimate dues before taking any action.

Another reason for implementing an immediate moratorium on any increase in the height of the dam emanates from the fact that compliance to the environmental norms have been found to be seriously lacking in the project. For example, the Dr. Pandey Committee, set up by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, has found serious faults with the project and has categorically stated that the construction of the dam should not go ahead until environmental compliances are met. The Committee, in fact, did not even allow poles to be put on top on the dam because that could raise the height of the reservoir by 1.5 meters, forget accepting the 17 metre high gates on top of the dam’s current height of 122 metres as it found any water height increase to be totally unacceptable.

The denial of permission was in line with the Rehabilitation Sub-group of the NCA’s similar refusal in 2012 against raising the dam height. The reservations against raising the damn height were vindicated as recently as August and September 2012, when more than 1500 acres of farmland, a few hundred houses and shops stood submerged in the thickly populated Nimad region as well as many tribal hamlets in hilly regions exposing both the inadequacies and inefficiencies of the NCA in keeping its words.

It is in this context that the widely expected meeting of the NCA to take a decision on raising the damn height becomes a cause of great concern not only for the 40,000 families living in the area but also for everyone who believes in the law of the land. The decision will not also adversely affect the lives of the affected people but jeopardize the food security of the adivasis, farmers, farm labourers, workers, fisherfolk, potters who inhabit in the villages threatened with submergence. The inundation caused by the increase in dam height will also very severally affect the environment by submerging hundreds of thousands of trees.

The AHRC, therefore, while fully endorsing the NBA’s action alert calls upon all of you to take the appropriate actions urging the respective authorities not to go ahead with such a devastating plan. You can also urge them to respect the court orders as well as recommendations and orders of the Justices Brahme and Sathe, the Grievance Redressal Authority in Maharashtra who have clearly stated that a large part of the rehabilitation work is still left pending and permission to raise the dam height cannot be given.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding immediate intervention for enforcing an immediate moratorium on the proposed NCA meeting to deliberate upon increasing the height of the dam. You can also urge them to take appropriate action to ensure that the resettlement and rehabilitation of the project affected people is carried out in a free and fair manner and corruption within the scheme is weeded out and those guilty of corruption are brought to justice.

The AHRC is also writing separate letters to the UN Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment calling for further intervention in this case.

 

 

 

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