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dam-l PR: SSP WATERS RISE AGAIN, 6 FT BELOW SATYAGRAHA SITE



NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN
B-13, Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Baroda-390007

press release/7.8.99

SSP WATERS RISE AGAIN, SIX FEET BELOW SATYAGRAHA SITE
Medha and  Samarpit Dal Ready To face Submergence

The backwater of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) in the Narmada valley
once again rose alarmingly and came upto six and half feet below the
Satyagraha house in Domkhedi and Jalsindhi on Friday ( August 6).The
Satyagrahis including Medha Patkar, Ranya Padvi, Bawabhai Muhariya,
Sitaram Patidar and others have been staying put to face the unjust
submergence. The water level may further rise with the release of water
from upstream dams of Bargi, Tawa and Barna.

Due to the heavy downpour in the upstream regions of Jabalpur and Mandla
regions of Narmada valley in Madhya Pradesh, the already high level of
submergence water has further risen. The level near Hafeshwar, the
nearest access point near the Satyagraha villages, was around 98 meters.
The level at the SSP damsite in the evening of August 6 was 92.95 m. In
the upstream, at Rajghat,near Badwani in Nimad, the water level in the
morning was at 119 m. The backwater level rose sharply, some three weeks
before going up to 97 m. near Hafeshwar, which was fluctuating during
the successive weeks. However, Friday's rise was yet another pointer for
increasing danger. The discharge from the upstream dams has been quite
substantial. Bargi (30,000 cusecs), Tawa (28,000 cusecs) and Barna
(30,000 cusecs) would further exacerbate the situation.

The village representatives from the villages in Akrani, Akkalkua
tehsils in Maharashtra, from Alirajpur tehsil and plains of Nimad in
M.P. have been participating in the satyagraha at Domkhedi (Mah) and
Jalsindhi (M.P.) in a large numbers alongwith individuals and
organisations in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Bengal, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. From Karnataka representatives fro Dalit and Women
Chalavali  are staying for a long period at the satyagraha site.
Activists of Swashraya-Vypin, Eco Activists Collective and various
environmental groups from Kerala, Tamilnadu have been participating in
the satyagraha.

A 12 member delegation from the villages affected by the Koliari dam in
Gujarat participated in the mass action. The organisations at the
Satyagraha place expressed solidarity with the Koliari struggle and
demanded that the people should not be displaced and the dam work must
not go ahead without resettling the people.

The increase of the height of the SSP from 80.3 meters to 85 m plus
humps of  3 meters, would be submerging the houses and farms of over
2500 families from 50-60 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh. The
government had yet to resettle the affected families below the 80 meters
itself. Though the NBA has been raising all the basic issues regarding
the dam and very raison d'etre of the displacement, even in the very
limited case of the resettlement of the oustees upto 80 meters or 88
meters of dam height, it is proved that the state governments failed to
resettle the people below that height. The state governments, instead
have filed  false affidavits in the  Court about the resettlement.

Sanjay Sangvai