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dam-l PR: 10,000 Protest Maheshwar Dam on India's Narmada River
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, October 10, 1997
Patrick McCully
Campaigns Director
(510) 848-1155
10,000 PEOPLE PROTEST MAHESHWAR DAM ON INDIA'S NARMADA RIVER
PROTESTORS DEMAND COMPLETE HALT TO CONSTRUCTION
Over 10,000 people demonstrated at the site of the proposed Maheshwar Dam
in central India on Friday, October 3, 1997. The protestors, who would lose
their lands and homes if the dam is built, demanded a complete halt to
construction. They warned government and company officials that if it is
not halted by October 31 they will launch a major campaign against the
project.
Shripad Dharmadhikary of the Save the Narmada Movement (NBA) says:
"Local people are enraged at the totally callous attitude of project
authorities. People have been told that their land will be submerged yet
there is no plan for resettlement. Those whose land has already been seized
have received totally inadequate - and illegal - levels of compensation.
"The people have told project authorities that they are not prepared to
sacrifice their everything for corporate profits, and that they will not
allow the project to be built.
"Dam authorities' claims that the dam will have negligible impacts are
totally baseless. We don't know of any studies of the dam's social and
environmental impacts."
The Maheshwar protest was organized by the NBA, which has been successfully
fighting dams in the Narmada Valley for nearly a decade. Local people
requested the NBA's help when preliminary work for the project began last
year. Speakers at the protest rally included NBA leader Medha Patkar as
well as people affected by other dams in the valley.
The dam would be built across the Narmada River in the state of Madhya
Pradesh. The 400 megawatt project would submerge some 2500 acres of land
and affect around 2200 families in 61 villages.
Maheshwar Dam is a part of the Narmada Valley Development Project, a plan
to build 30 major, 135 medium and 3000 small dams on the Narmada River and
its tributaries. The Maheshwar site is upstream of the infamous Sardar
Sarovar Dam which was funded by the World Bank until their forced
withdrawal in 1993. Work on raising the half-completed wall of Sardar
Sarovar has been suspended since January 1995 by order of the Indian
Supreme Court.
A 35-year concession to build and operate Maheshwar Dam, which is expected
to cost over $436 million, has been given to S. Kumars, an Indian textile
and tires company with no prior experience in dam projects. Financing is
being sought from both governmental and private sources.
Project officials have told the NBA that they are searching for a foreign
partner to invest in the project, so far without success. According to the
officials, negotiations have failed with US company Pacific Generation and
a Norwegian company. The officials have also stated that Swiss-Swedish
engineering giant ABB and German firm Siemens will supply turbines and
other equipment for the dam.
- ends -
For more information:
Patrick McCully, IRN, Berkeley, Calif. +1 510 848 1155
Shripad Dharmadhikary, NBA, Baroda, India. +91 265 382232
************************************
Patrick McCully
Campaigns Director
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703, USA
Tel. 510 848 1155
Fax. 510 848 1008
http://www.irn.org