[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l LS: Over 700 Arrested in India During Protests
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Press Release
31.3.99
Maheshwar Dam Oustees Occupy Maheshwar Dam Site and Deliver Final
Warning : Government Uses Tear Gas to Disperse : Over 700 Arrested
Today, as thousands of the oustees to be affected by the Maheshwar Hydro
Electric Project (MHEP) marched towards the dam site, the Government
burst tear gas shell to disperse them, and arrested people at several
places. In spite of this, the people reached and occupied the dam site,
and delivered the final warning to the state Government, the Indian and
foreign companies investing in and supporting the project that unless
the work on the project is stopped and the review initiated as per the
report of the Task Force within a week, the affected people will take
to the streets in large numbers and along with the people affected by
other dams in the Narmada Valley, launch an indefinite struggle.
About 700 people were arrested a they moved towards the dam site, and
one women injured by the tear gas shell has been admitted to the
Mandeleshwar hospital. This is the eighth time the affected people are
occupying the dam site, and the third one in this year.
Today, several thousand of the affected people started moving towards
the dam site from many different directions. The administration fired
tear gas shells to disperse those advancing from the coffer dam side.
One woman, Resham bai of village Mardana was injured in this and she has
been admitted to the Mandeleshwar hospital. The people entering from
village Jalud side were also stopped and arrested. In spite of these
attempts, the people succeeded in reaching the dam site and stopped all
the work.
In the public meeting held later at the dam site, the affected
people, which included a large number of women, stated that the
Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation had completely failed in the
rehabilitation and now it is taking recourse to use of subterfuge and
force in desperation. In the last days, false cases have been filed on
75 people. The MHEP will bring financial ruin on the state and we will
stop this destruction at any cost. Hence, we are warning the Madhya
Pradesh state Government that unless the the work on the dam is not
stopped within a week, then the people of Maheshwar dam affected areas
will, along with the people affected by other dams in the valley, take
tot he streets in large numbers and launch an indefinite program of
hunger strike and expose the reality of the project to the world. Giving
this warning,the affected people have written a warning letter to the
state Government that the destruction of the large dams must be stopped
and the state Government must implement the recommendations of the Task
Force that it itself had constituted.
Alok Agarwaal
NBA
********************
NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
58, M.G. Road, Badwani, M.P. 451551 ( Ph. 07290-22464)
Mumbai Contact : Pervin-218 4779/5832
Press Release/ 31.3.99
HUMAN RIGHTS MARCH OF NARMADA VALLEY TO START ON APRIL 1
THOUSANDS TO REACH MUMBAI ON APRIL 4 : DELHI DHARNA ON 7th
Thousands of men and women in the Narmada valley have started converging in
Badwani on the eve of the historic ìManav Adhikar Yatra ( Human Rights March)
which will commence from Thursday ( April 1) to reassert the right to life of
the people and to oppose the large scale forced displacement. The people will
be challenging the state and Union governments for giving false information
regarding the displacement and resettlement in the Sardar Sarovar Project to
the Supreme Court.
The court, in its interim order on February 18, allowed the construction on the
dam and raising its height from the 80.3 meters to 85 meters. The state
governments and the centre had given false affidavits claiming that they had
enough land to resettle all those affected by this height, when even those who
had been already displaced could not be resettled fully. Apart from the people
affected by the SSP from the three states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra- the representatives from the other large pojects in the Narmada
valley like Bargi, Tawa, Narmada Sagar, Man etc. will join the march.
All the walls and roads in and around Badwani, the district headquarters, are
painted with the slogans declaring the peopleís resolve to resist the attempts
to oust and impose the controversial Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on the
tribals and peasants of the valley.
The march will traverse the villages in Madhya Pradesh before entering in
Maharashtra at Shahada. There will be meetings, interactions with the peopleís
organisations and groups along the route. Over 50 trucks and number of jeeps
will be in the rally. Nearly 3000 people would raise the basic issues of
displacement and destitutions by the projects like SSP en route Mumbai. They
will have major progerammes in and around Anjad, Khetiya Shahada, Dhule,
Malegaon, Nashik and Thane before reaching in Mumbai on April 4-5.
The valley people are joined by number of organisations from amny parts of
India. Veteran Sarvodayi leader Siddharaj Dhadda and others, national champion
for Womenís High Jump Ms. Bobby Alousius, convenors of the National Alliance of
Peopleís Movements, the representativees from Gosi Khurd dam affected people in
Vidarbha, Damodar Project in Bengal, friends from Ganga Mukti Andolan,
activists and student activists from Rajasthan, Kerala, Karnataka and Orissa
are going to be with the Yatra from the start. Veteran social worker Baba Amte
has already left for Delhi via Indore and Bhopal.
During the March the people would participate in the rally of the fisherpeople
in Mahim on 4 th evening. On 5 th the Yatra will stop at the Khatau Mill to
extend solidarity to the Girni Kamgar Sangharsha Samiti. The Samiti was holding
an indefinite fast to press for the demands of justice for the mill-workers in
Mumbai. After the demonstrations against the Maharashtra government in and
around Azad Maidan, the people will march to Delhi to hold demonstrations
against the Union Social Justice department. This department is also is in
charge of overall resettlement aspect in SSP and has made false claims about it
in the apex Court.
The people and their Andolan demands that the concerned governments should
submit the real situation regarding the displacement and resettlement in the
apex Court. It should also accept the responsibility of the unwarranted
submergence due to the increase in the height of the dam. This submergence will
be result of the callous and insensitive attitude of the government and
bureaucracy towards the people, their life and resources. It is clear that the
the Yatra would be important not only in the context of the displacement in the
SSP and in the other projects in the Narmada valley, but also will raise the
important issues about the human rights of the displaced and dispossessed all
over India.
MEDHA PATKAR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susanne Wong
Campaigns Assistant
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703
Tel: 1.510.848.1155 ext 316 email: swong@irn.org
Fax: 1.510.848.1008 web: www.irn.org