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dam-l LS: WCD visit banned by Gujerat
Saturday, September 05, 1998
Gujarat bans visit of 'anti-dam' body
By Our Special Correspondent
GANDHINAGAR, Sept. 4.
The controversy over the visit of the World Commission
on Dams took an ugly turn on Thursday with the
Commission expressing its desire to go to the Sardar
Sarovar dam on the Narmada river and the Gujarat
Government virtually imposing a ban on the entry of any
of its members within the State.
The State Government had earlier decided to boycott the
proceedings of the Commission in New Delhi
and Bhopal from September 19 to 22.
``We can refuse them permission to enter the State on
security grounds or on any other issue.
Considering the strong sentiments of the people in the
State for the Sardar Sarovar project, anyone
opposing the project runs security risks and can be
debarred from entering the State,'' the Minister for
Narmada Affairs, Mr. Jaynarayan Vyas, said here.
According to Mr. Vyas and the Chief Minister, Mr.
Keshubhai Patel, the composition of the Commission,
which had no ``official locus standi,'' made it clear
that it was visiting India to oppose the construction
of the SSP.
Breaking all diplomatic protocols, the Commission
secretary general, Mr. Achim Steiner, sent a fax
message to the Gujarat Chief Minister seeking
co-operation for the visit of some six members of the
Commission to the SSP dam site on September 17. ``The
commissioners are interested in visiting an
affected village as well as a resettlement colony and
meet your officials at Kevadiya Colony. Kindly
depute your officials to be with the commission
throughout the day,'' the fax message read.
It claimed that the visit would be ``fruitful in
helping the commissioners to arrive at a considered
understanding of the complex issue of dam building in
South Asia.'' While the Chief Minister ignored the
fax message, the Chief Secretary, Mr. L.N.S. Mukundan,
promptly sent a reply to Mr. Steiner pointing
out that since the Commission had no official locus
standi, it would not be possible for the State
Government to co-operate with it. The Chief Secretary
also drew the Commission's attention to the fact
that one of its commissioners, Ms. Medha Patkar, the
leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, was a
party to the petition pending before the Supreme Court
on the advisability of the construction of the
Narmada.
A formal decision on banning the entry of the
commission members to the State was expected to be taken
at an all-party meeting convened here tomorrow by the
Chief Minister. However, Mr. Vyas said, the
Chief Secretary's letter ``virtually makes the State
Government's stand clear - the commission members
cannot be allowed to enter the State.'' Mr. Patel said
he was confident ``that the people will never allow
such anti-Narmada forces to step on the soil of
Gujarat.'' He appealed to the people to ``create a human
chain'' to prevent the commission members from entering
the State, as they did to stop Ms. Medha Patkar
and her supporters from going to the SSP to stage a
dharna against the dam project in 1991.
Mr. Patel had earlier written to the Prime Minister,
Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Deputy Chairman
of the Planning Commission, Mr. Jaswant Singh,
requesting them to deny permission to the commission
to visit India.
The Commission was originally conceived in March, last
year, by a group of about 40 people from
various countries to launch a campaign against large
dams. It finally came into being in February this year
with sponsorship from the World Bank and the World
Environmental Organisation IUCN. But later, the
two organisations withdrew their sponsorship and
declared the commission an independent body.