Forty People Arrested in Protest Over Indian Dam
8/13/99
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Title: Forty People Arrested in Protest Over Indian Dam
Source: International Rivers Network via Global Response
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 13, 1999
Dear Members of Global Response's Quick Response Network:
Here's an update on the courageous protests against further
construction of dams on India's Narmada River. (See Global Response
Emergency Action 7/12/99). Please send a fax or letter to the
president of India, calling on him to guarantee the safety of
peaceful protesters in the Narmada Valley, and to halt further
construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Send your letters and faxes to:
Dr. K. R. Narayanan,
The Honorable President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi
India
Fax +91 (011) 3014570, +91 (011) 3017290
INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK
PRESS ADVISORY 11 August 1999
Contact:
Juliette Majot, Executive Director, International Rivers Network
juliette@irn.org/+1 510 848 1155
Susanne Wong, Campaigns Assistant, International Rivers Network
swong@irn.org/+1 510 848 1155
40 PEOPLE ARRESTED IN PROTEST AGAINST INDIAN DAM Indian Government
Called Upon to Halt Further Dam Construction
Forty people determined to face submergence in the rising waters
behind the $8.1 billion Sardar Sarovar Dam were arrested on Wednesday
evening in Domkhedi village in India. As the police carried them
away, a steady stream of villagers took their places in the waist-
deep water. The villagers and activists have vowed to remain on their
lands and die in the waters now rising in the Narmada Valley rather
than be forced onto resettlement sites. They insist that life in
resettlement sites is not worth living. Among those arrested are
Medha Patkar, Ranyabhai Padvi and Devrambhai Kanera. At the time of
this release, the Chief Secretary of the state of Maharashtra was on
his way to Domkhedi.
India's leading opposition movement, Narmada Bachao Andolan, is
calling on media outlets throughout the world to reach the Narmada
Valley to record the struggle as it continues. A full release
prepared just prior to the arrests is attached. Updates will follow
ASAP.
Leading US Organization Denounces Government of India
International Rivers Network denounces the Indian government for its
role in the human tragedy now unfolding in the Narmada Valley. IRN
calls on the Indian government to halt any further construction of
the Sardar Sarovar Dam. IRN has opposed the project, and has worked
closely with the Narmada Bachao Andolan for the past ten years.
"By building this dam, the government of India has condemned
thousands of its people to a life not worth living. Its actions have
ripped apart the Narmada Valley, and destroyed the river-based
culture that has thrived there. It is no wonder that villagers living
in the Narmada Valley would rather face the rising waters than walk
away from their land, their livelihood, their entire way of life,"
says Juliette Majot, Executive Director of International Rivers
Network.
The government of India has yet to give authorization to increase the
dam from its current height of 85 meters to a final height of 163
meters. If the dam and its associated irrigation system are
completed, it will force the eviction of more than half a million
people from their lands.
"By approving the construction of an 85 meter-high dam on the Narmada
River, the government of India has violated international standards
of environmental protection and respect for human rights. A decision
to increase the height of the dam (and thereby, increase the number
of people who will suffer as a direct result) will further erode
international respect for the country's leadership," says Majot.
Field Notes
Majot spent July 4 -16 in India, in villages now flooded by the
monsoon rains behind the Sardar Sarovar Dam. "This is not a natural
disaster caused by the monsoon," said Majot. "It is a manmade
disaster caused by a dam for which the government of India is
responsible."
While thousands of people now stand to be displaced or drowned due to
flooding caused by the dam, people already resettled face severe
problems. Resettlement in fragmented units has torn apart families,
communities and cultures. In rehabilitation sites, people face
shortages of land and water, and many suffer from lack of fuelwood,
fodder and poor sanitation.
In resettlement sites visited by Majot, villagers reiterated that
conditions were unacceptable: land offered was inadequate for
cultivation; freshwater supplies were insufficient or unavailable;
housing was built of inappropriate materials for the climate (tin
walls and roofs, no ventilation). With no access to forest products
such as fruits, firewood, and medicinal plants, villagers -
particularly children - were experiencing health problems and hunger.
"What choice do we have but to submerge ourselves? I've tried to find
the person to answer this question, but there is no one," Mr. Batu
Narmadya told Majot in the village of Domkhedi.
Photos of affected villages will be available today (8/11) after 1PM
PST on the web at www.irn.org. Further background info is available
at www.narmada.org. Contact Juliette Majot or Susanne Wong at
International Rivers Network at +1 510-848-1155 for more info.
# # # # #
International Rivers Network supports local communities working to
protect their rivers and watersheds. We work to halt destructive
river development projects, and to encourage equitable and
sustainable methods of meeting needs for water, energy and flood
management.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Press Release - Tue, 10 Aug 1999 08:20 GMT NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park,
Baroda - 390007 ( Ph.0265-382232)
NARMADA VILLAGERS AND ACTIVISTS DARE THE SUBMERGENCE OF SSP, STANDING
THREE FEET IN SUBMERGENCE WATER IN DOMKHEDI Government Looks Other
Way: Water 2 feet below Jalsindhi House
A band of over sixty people have been braving the submergence water
of the Sardar Sarovar Project in the Narmada Valley in Domkhedi
village from Tuesday (Aug. 10) night with Medha Patkar, Ranyabhai
Padvi and Devrambhai and others standing in the three feet deep
submergence water since early morning of 11th. The people are firm on
not to move out of the land despite the unjust submergence. About
fifty Maharashtra police were camping outside the village knowing
fully well the crisis.
In Jalsindhi, another Satyagraha place, the water was hardly two feet
below the Satyagraha house and the three main activists, Sitarambhai,
Luhariyabhai and Rehmat and others are prepared to face the
submergence waters. The government officials visited the site to
'inform' the people and left.
The submergence water started entering the Satyagraha house,
"Narmadai" in Domkhedi (Maharashtra state), by late night of August
10. The Maharashtra police toured the village with a warning to go to
safe places. The people and activists made it clear that they would
not move out of the Satyagraha house in face of the submergence.
The backwaters of Narmada had risen alarmingly by noon on Tuesday. At
Rajghat (Badwani), the water rose from 118 meters to 127 meters, thus
threatening the villages with submergence. The water rose up to 99
meters at the damsite by Wednesday morning.
The people staying in the Satyagraha place including Medha, Ranya
Dahya (elder) and Devrambhai are resolved not to move out. "We oppose
the unjust submergence and destruction imposed on the people and
nature in the Narmada valley by the system", they declared. " The
people will resist their unjust displacement and threats of
submergence even at the cost of their lives".
The confrontation with the submergence comes as a sequel to the
Satyagraha against the displacement and unjust submergence. The
additional submergence is a result of construction which increased
the height of the dam from 80.3 meters to 85 meters excluding 3 feet
high humps.
Devrambhai Kanera has been a senior activist in the struggle having
his small piece of land in the plains of Nimad. Ranyabhai Padvi, from
the adivasi village Mukhadi from Maharashtra, has been the among the
founders of Narmada Dharangrasta Samiti in 1987, which sparked off
the protest against the displacement and the dam. Sitarambhai Patidar
is a peasant from Nimad and an elderly activist of NBA. Luvariyabhai
hails from the village of Jalsindhi, and his house is the first house
to be submerged in the village. Rehmat has been a senior activist
with NBA.
According to latest information, the police contingent left from
Nandurbar, the district headquarters of the submergence area in
Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.
Sanjay Sangvai
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Baroda: nba@lwbdq.lwbbs.net Tel +91 265 382232
Jharana Jhaveri, Delhi: janmadhyam@vsnl.com Tel. +91 11 2211851
Pervin Jehangir, Mumbai: jehangir@giasbmc.vsnl.net.in Tel. +91 22
2184779 / 2185832
Patrick McCully, California: patrick@irn.org Tel. +1 510 848 1155 (o)
+55 11 9291 4410 (mobile) Peter Bosshard, Switzerland: finance@evb.ch
Tel. +49 1271 6425 Alex Wilks, England: bwref@gn.apc.org Tel. +44 171
523 2170