Write to the Indian President and the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister

Write a letter to the President of India and the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister expressing solidarity with the NBA and to stop the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Click here to send a letter to the Indian government denouncing the ruling

"I think it is a very sad moment in the history of democracy. There is no
other word to describe the judgment than to call it absolutely disgraceful."
-- writer Arundhati Roy

"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

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 comes despite overwhelming evidence that claimed project benefits will not materialize, better alternatives are available and rehabilitation of the half a million people affected by the project is impossible.

The Sardar Sarovar Project would flood 200,000 people from their homes to make way for the project's reservoir and affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more due to construction of the extensive irrigation system, compensatory wildlife sanctuary and associated infrastructure. Villagers and activists with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) have waged an intense battle vowing to remain on their lands even as floodwaters rising behind the partly built dam have threatened to submerge their lands.

The State of Madhya Pradesh has the largest share of oustees (official estimates: 80% of all oustees, 33,014 families). But, the MP Government has filed an affidavit in court stating that it does not have land to resettle people. On October 20th, in an interview to Tehelka.com, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh clearly stated that he does not have any arable land to give to the oustees and would have to give cash compensation. This is a violation of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award.

Contrary to all such available evidence about resettlement and rehabilitation, the majority ruling allows the dam to be raised to 90m immediately. But, since all oustees upto 90m have not yet been resettled, the Court has violated its own order that the Narmada Tribunal order has to be respected. Further, the Court has directed that every 5m increase in height requires an approval from the Relief & Rehabilitation subgroup of the Narmada Control Authority. Based on past precedent, this has been easy to obtain.

The majority judgement says: "The 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". Furthermore, it concludes that in most cases of displacement (voluntary and otherwise), the oustees have in fact been left better off after their displacement. These conclusions fly in the face of a huge body of evidence from biologists, ecologists, economists, water resource experts and social scientists, as well as the direct experiences of tens of millions of people.

We appeal to one and all concerned to act now, for the cause of the people in the Narmada Valley, for the cause of justice, for the cause of democracy, and for keeping the hope alive in people's movements and people's action. The time to act is now!

We urge you to send letters to the Indian President and the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh denouncing the ruling and urging them to take steps to protect the rights of people in the Narmada Valley. Sample letters are provided below.

In solidarity,

Friends of the River Narmada

We encourage you to fax your letter since it has much greater impact than email. The fax numbers are given below. If you can follow up your faxing with an actual surface mail to the addresses given below, that would be useful too.

1. WRITE TO INDIAN PRESIDENT K.R. NARAYANAN

Write to President Narayanan asking him 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 authorizes the President to declare any law or government order inapplicable in tribal areas.

Dr. K.R. Narayanan,
The Honorable President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi
India
Fax: +91 11 3014570, +91 11 3017290
Email:

We encourage you to write your own letter, however short, or at least tailor the following sample letters for more impact!
Message Text :	Dear President K.R. Narayanan, I am writing to express my full solidarity with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) in their struggle for justice. The recent Indian Supreme Court decision authorizing the completion of the Sardar Sarovar Project is a shocking blow to democracy and people's movements in the country. The oustees of the dam till 90m. have not yet been rehabilitated as required by the Narmada Tribunal. The Madhya Pradesh Government has filed an affidavit in court stating that it has no land available for rehabilitation. Therefore, the Court has violated its own order that the Narmada Tribunal order has to be respected. Further, the ruling also jeopardizes the economic, social and physical well being of hundreds of thousands of people, over 60% of whom are Dalits and adivasis. The minority judgement by Justice Bharucha has called for immediate stoppage of all construction work because of failure to obtain environmental clearance for the project. But, the majority judgement has completely ignored the enviromental aspects of the dam. In your address to the nation on Republic Day this year (Jan 26, 2000), you said: ".. and dams over rivers will rise to prevent floods, generate electricity and irrigate dry lands for cultivation. But that should not cause ecological and environmental devastation, and the uprooting of human settlements, especially of tribals and the poor." I urge you to act on this sentiment and exercise the authority vested in your office and provided for in Schedule V of the Indian Constitution to uphold the constitutional rights of the adivasi people. Sincerely,
Signed :
E-mail Address :
Postal Address :
City, State :
Zip / Post Code :
Country :
	to President K.R. Narayanan

2. WRITE TO THE MADHYA PRADESH CHIEFMINISTER

Write to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh state urging him to challenge the recent ruling and push for an immediate halt to construction on Sardar Sarovar Project. It is IMPORTANT to put pressure on the Chief Minister since he admits that his state has no land available to resettle people whose lands will be submerged. In the past, he has also argued for lowering the dam height to reduce the number of people displaced and for a review of the Narmada Tribunal Award.

Shri Digvijay Singh
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Office of the Chief Minister
Vallabh Bhavan
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
India
Fax: +91 755 661 501; +91 755 540 501; Delhi: +91 11 301 9461
Email:

We encourage you to write your own letter, however short, or at least tailor the following sample letters for more impact!
Message Text :	Dear Mr. Digvijay Singh, I am writing to urge you to push for an immediate stop to construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project. In your October 20th interview with Tehelka.com, you reiterated that the state of Madhya Pradesh does not have any arable land to give to the oustees. As you know, the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal states that people must be given land for resettlement PRIOR to submergence (Clause XI, Subclause IV of the NWDT Award). Since oustees upto 90m construction have not yet been resettled, any further construction would amount to a violation of the Tribunal order. I urge you to take a strong stand to stop construction of Sardar Sarovar Project and protect the lives and livelihoods of people in the Narmada valley. Sincerely,
Signed :
E-mail Address :
Postal Address :
City, State :
Zip / Post Code :
Country :
	to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh