Man Project affected tribals storm NABARD office
NABARD officials agree not to give additional money to the Man Project if
rehabilitation conditions are not met
Nearly two hundred tribals affected by the Man Project
One of the thirty large dams in the Narmada valley demonstrated recently
at the NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) office
in Bhopal on the afternoon of 27th February. This was the latest of the
series of direct actions that these tribals have been compelled to
undertake as they face imminent submergence this very monsoon as the
government continues work on the spillway section of the dam in violation
of all rehabilitation policies and clearances, and the tribals fight with
their backs to the wall.
Entering the multi-storeyed office of the NABARD on the afternoon of the
27th February, the affected people climbed up to the fourth floor despite
security. Taken aback and initially resistant to talk with the tribals,
there was hand-to-hand fighting for a few minutes as officers of the
NABARD tried to physically oust the tribals from the office, until they
finally agreed to talk with them. Amidst heavy police force called in by
the NABARD officials, the representatives of the Man dam affected people:
Sarpanch of Village Khedi Balwadi Shri Bhuwansingh and Bondribai of
Village Khedi as well as activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan
Chittaroopa Palit informed the NABARD officials that NABARD credit to the
Madhya Pradesh government was being used for the construction of the Man
Project that will submerge over 1200 tribal families in the monsoon of
this year without any land-based rehabilitation or even resettlement. They
challenged the NABARD officials that they will have to accept the
responsibility of this.
Responding to the anguish of the Man-affected tribals, senior officials of
NABARD stated that NABARD money had been given only under stringent
conditions of rehabilitation of the Project affected people, and committed
themselves that if these were not being met, NABARD would refuse to
give the government of Madhya Pradesh the second trache of money. They
said that they had already released about 50% of the total credit this
year based on the M.P government's information that all arrangements for
rehabilitation had been completed. The officials promised to write to the
Madhya Pradesh government the very next day demanding an explanation for
non-compliance with conditions. The tribals asked the NABARD officials to
visit the affected villages to see the reality for themselves and to make
their own assessment of the situation.
It may be recalled that the Man Project is a large dam being built on the
Man river and one of the 30 large dams being built in the Narmada valley
and will submerge the lands and homes of over 6000 tribals in 17 villages
of Dhar district that include Khedi-Balwadi, Khanpura, Rehtiaon and
others. This Project received the legally binding environmental clearance
from the Central Environment Ministry in 1984. The condition of the
clearance was that the affected tribals must be resettled with non-forest
agricultural land. The state government policy for the oustees of the
Narmada Projects that was made in 1987 and firmed in 1992 also required
that the affected people must be resettled with land for land. Despite
this, from 1991 to 1994, the state government completely violated the
conditions of the environmental clearance and the provisions of its own
policy and finished the rights of the people with paltry amounts of cash
compensation.
As a result, in 1994, the Appraisal Committee of the Central Environment
Ministry blacklisted the Man Project for complete violation of the
conditions of the environmental clearance. In 1997, when the oustees were
given eviction notices, they organized themselves under the aegis of the
Narmada Bachao Andolan and raised their voices. After a long struggle, in
April-May 1999, the Madhya Pradesh government agreed to constitute a committee
for the rehabilitation of the affected people. This committee, which was
constituted under the chairmanship of the Narmada Minister, comprised of
the affected people, elected representatives, government officials and
members of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
The government order of 2nd May, 1999 clearly stated that no construction
work could be carried out that would endanger any affected person whose
rehabilitation had not been done. But despite this clear order, from
October 2000 onwards, the state government began work on the spillway
section of the dam, thus creating a situation of imminent submergence of
hundreds of tribal families who are yet to be rehabilitated. The Man
affected tribals then held protest actions in Dhar on the 24th of January
this year demanding immediate stoppage of work and rehabilitation of the
affected people. Subsequently after representations to the NVDA, the
work on the spillway section of the dam was stopped by a government order
of 30th January. But on the initiative of the Chief Minister Shri
Digvijay Singh, as per public statement given by local Congress MLA Shri
Karan Singh Pawar, the work was again restarted. The tribals now intend to
stop the work on the dam themselves if the government does not stop it.
In the two-day rally of all major people's organizations of Madhya Pradesh
as well as the hearing of the People's Court in Bhopal on the 26th and
27th of February, the affected people took out a float that told their
story of deliberate and cruel uprootment as well as testified before the
Commission.
Chittaroopa Palit
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