NOTING THAT:

1.  Maheshwar Dam would submerge 5000 hectares of land, displacing 2200 families and harming the livelihoods of thousands more. Families whose land has been seized have received inadequate - and illegal - levels of compensation. No resettlement plan exists. Local people have opposed the seizure of their land and have requested the Narmada Bachao Andolan/Save the Narmada Movement (NBA) to join them in their struggle to defend their rights.
2. Following a year-long struggle, the Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) on January 30, 1998, issued a written order announcing that it would suspend construction on the dam pending a comprehensive review of its costs, benefits and alternatives. This announcement met the demands of the NBA who called off a dam-site occupation by thousands of local people and a hunger strike. A Task Force previously established to review the Narmada Valley Development Project, and including representatives from the GoMP, NBA and academia, has been directed to carry out this review.
3. At a special meeting of the Task Force on March, 4, 1998, the project developer, S.Kumars, urged to be allowed to restart construction at Maheshwar for "safety purposes". The NBA opposed this request believing that it is a ruse to allow work to continue and thus reassure investors that the project will not be significantly delayed. However on March, 11, 1998, GoMP issued a notification allowing "any work for the purposes of safety and resettlement".
4. In early April, S.Kumars restarted work, including blasting, at Maheshwar under protection of a force of around 1500 police and prohibitory orders banning protestors from the dam site. On April 22, several thousand people recaptured the dam site. Police arrested hundreds of villagers and prevented drinking water tankers from reaching the protestors despite the 42 degree centigrade heat and lack of shelter, forcing people to drink oil-contaminated river water. In the evening police arrested those remaining at the site, bringing the total of the day's arrests to around 1200.
5. The following day, hundreds more people dodged police barricades and once again took over the site. The police, without warning or provocation, reacted with brutality, repeatedly beating the peaceful protestors with batons and rifle butts, charging them on horseback, and using sexually abusive language against women protestors. Several tear gas shells were fired. By the evening of April 23, around 1500 people were in jail and around 23 in hospital, some with serious injuries. Work is currently continuing under the protection of the prohibitory orders and a massive police presence.
6. The concession to build and operate the 400 megawatt Maheshwar Dam on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh state in central India has been given to a private company, S.Kumars. Preliminary work on the project began in 1996. The dam is scheduled to be completed in 2002. S.Kumars are receiving numerous public subsidies and guarantees to ensure that private investors will make a profit from Maheshwar while the sizeable financial risks of the project are borne by the public sector. The NBA and independent energy experts have challenged the economic and technical viability of the project, which will be one of the main subjects in the ongoing review.
7.  According to an S.Kumars document dated 17 December, 1996, and other sources, financing for the project will come from:

a) German bank Bayerische Vereinsbank and probably Export Credit Agency, Hermes-Baergschaften.
b) US energy utility PacifiCorp. A former subsidiary of PacifiCorp, Pacific Generation Co. (PacGen), worked with S.Kumars on structuring the financing package for Maheshwar and was listed to be one of the largest equity holders in the project. PacifiCorp sold PacGen in November 1997 but retained the subsidiary's overseas interests. On May 7, 1998, PacifiCorp, wrote to the NBA stating that "we do not intend to participate further in the [Maheshwar] project" and that "If PacifiCorp were to reevaluate an investment position in the project in the future, it would only be under the condition that the needs of the mass of affected people be properly addressed and consensus regarding how the Project proceeds is reached by all stakeholders, including Narmada Bachao Andolan."
c) Power Finance Corporation, a specialized financial institution wholly owned by the Government of India. PFC funders include the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, US Agency for International Development and UK Overseas Development Agency.
d) Industrial Finance Corporation of India
e) State Bank of India
f) Dena Bank 
8.  Siemens AG and ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. are believed to have signed contracts to supply generating and other equipment for the dam. S.Kumars has requested both companies to buy equity in the project.

Condemn the repression of peaceful protests at Maheshwar Dam and the breaking of the Madhya Pradesh government's written commitment to suspend construction work.

Call on the Government of Madhya Pradesh to cease the repression at Maheshwar and to reinstate their commitment to suspend construction pending the results of the Task Force's review.

Call on S.Kumars to immediately cease all work on Maheshwar Dam and to only restart work if the Task Force concludes that the dam should be built and local people agree with this conclusion.

Call on Power Finance Corporation, Industrial Finance Corporation of India, State Bank of India, Dena Bank and Bayerische Vereinsbank to make public announcements condemning the use of violence against peaceful protestors and guaranteeing that they will only lend to or invest in the Maheshwar Project if the Task Force reaches a consensus that the dam should be built and local people agree with this conclusion. Call on Hermes-Buergschaften to make a public announcement condemning the use of violence against peaceful protestors and guaranteeing that they will only guarantee loans to the Maheshwar Project if the Task Force reaches a consensus that the dam should be built and local people agree with this conclusion.

Call on ABB and Siemens to make a public announcement condemning the use of violence against peaceful protestors and withdrawing their involvement in the project until such a time as the Task Force reaches a consensus that the dam should be built and local people agree with this conclusion.
 

Endorsed by