A Long Battle Against India

Thousands of people have been evicted due to dam projects along Narmada river in India’s Madhya Pradesh.

They staged a five-day protest this week against the development of the dams.

The majority of protestors are women from the affected areas.

One of them is 58-year-old Sakku Bai, who was evicted to make way for the Onkareshwar dam.

“The condition at the site is very bad,” she says.

“We don’t have hospitals for treatment, schools for our children or any other facilities. Our houses and land are on the verge of being submerged. We are facing a lot of problems and no one is concerned.”

Narmada is the fifth largest river in India – a vital agricultural and economic resource for the region. The government has started developing five dams on the river to produce electricity for more than 500 thousand homes and a secure water supply for irrigation and drinking.

But for that, thousands of people have lost their land and homes.

And like many others, Sakku Bai feels she has not been fairly compensated.

“We want the government to give us some land to replace our lost land... a minimum of 5 acres. Otherwise we won’t move from our place and won’t demolish our homes,” she says.

“We will immerse ourselves in the water,” she continues,” We want the government to give us at least 10,000 US dollars per acre as land compensation. How can we survive without that?”

It’s not the first time protests like this have taken place against the dam projects.

Last year some of the villagers held a ‘water protest’ for two weeks. They immersed themselves up to their necks in water for 20 hours a day.

Activists say the water level in the dams has reached nearly 2 metres and that could wash away the homes and livelihoods of over 50 thousand people.

Two years ago the Supreme Court ordered the Madhya Pradesh government to rehabilitate those affected by the dam projects.

Alok Agrawal, from local NGO Save the Narmada Movement, says they’re putting pressure on the government to carry out the order.

“The rehabilitation policy is very clear. Evictees should be given land for land and they should also be given other facilities to be rehabilitated. Even the Supreme Court in 2011 accepted that the rehabilitation policy has not been implemented in the area and almost 90 percent of people have been denied proper compensation and rehabilitation.”

Following the order, the state government recently announced a compensation package of 4,500 US dollars for villagers, if they leave soon. And farmers will receive nearly 4,000 US dollars per acre as compensation. Some of the villagers have received the money, but many have only received partial amounts, or even none at all.

It’s not enough says Kalabai from Gogal village.

“The government wants to give us only 3,600 US dollars per acre... that’s below the existing market rate. We want the government to stop the dam project and restore our land.”

Jagdish Singh Narang from Bhavarle village says they were also forced to sign a deal with the government.

“The local administration is asking us to fill out a form saying that we won’t go to court and claim more compensation from the government. It’s a kind of consent letter from the evictees that we’re satisfied with the compensation. Many people have signed it under pressure from the administration. There are many people who haven’t got any compensation even though their lands and houses are deep under water now. We face a lot of problems.” 

And children are affected too says former village head Subhas Patel.

“Before the dams were constructed, the school was only 3 kilometres away from our place. But now it’s very far away... at least 40 kilometres. We can’t send our children to the city because we have no money. The government has deceived us. We are left with nothing.”

The protest comes just months before the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh.

Villagers hope this will encourage the government to keep their promise, says Alok Agrawal.

“We are ready to fight till the bitter end. The government should accept the demand or be ready to face electoral loss. Thousands of evictees will vote against the government in the elections.”