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dam-l Narmada Update 18 Sept 00:45 hrs IST
UPDATE FROM THE NARMADA 18 SEPT. 1999 0045 HOURS (12.45 IN THE NIGHT)
For Centres / Supporters - To be used for the press only after proper
modifications
Dear Friends,
Here is the latest situation and information based on a late night phone
call with Joe at about 00.10 am. Joe and 68 others are in Dhadgaon where
they have been brought after being arrested.
69 people - 41 men and 28 women were arrested on 17.9.99 at about 3.00
pm from Pipalchop village. The police came there at 2.30 pm. The people
were singing songs and dancing and stopped the police from entering by
making human chain etc. The police ultimately dispersed them (no force
was used) and people ran here and there, some entering the hut and some
in the fields so as to avoid arrest. The water had just touched the
(lowest) hut in Pipalchop. the police arrested those in the hut, and
started searching everywhere for Medha and others. They have not so far
been able to find Medha. Ultimately, 69 people were arrested under
Sec. 68 of Bombay Police Act and taken to Bharad police camp and then by
truck to Dhadgaon (the tehsil HQ). The people are kept at the school in
Dhadgaon (02595-20206). It is not know how long they will be kept. We
feel they may be kept till the waters fully recede. They have been given
food, tea, blankets and otherwise taken proper care of.
Those arrested include Joe, Gitanjali, Samata, Vishram, as also
senior village leaders like Luhariay Karbhari (of Pipalchop), Parsi and
others of Atti, Shelgda, Pipalchop villages. A foreign journalist and
his photographer were also taken in, but have been sent back to Pipalchop
from Bharad. Their camera was not taken nor were they troubled in any
other manner.
After the arrest, another team was reported to have continued the
satyagraha in Pipalchop.
It is also reported that more police is proceeding to Pipalchop and
other villages.
DOMKHEDI CENTRE
The news from Domkhedi came to Baroda by a note sent by Dr. Barant who
is sitting there with many villagers. The note was read out to us at
9.40 pm on phone, which means it was probably sent out from Domkhedi at
about 7.30 pm (on 17.9.99). The note said that 70 people had been
arrested in Pipalchop, and that the waters had submerged the Pipalchop
hut (extent not mentioned), and that the waters had just started
entering the hut in Domkhedi.
There is no further news from there. However, at about 8.45 pm we got
the news from Nandurbar (the Dist. HQ) that 120 people have been
arrested including people 70 from Pipalchop and rest from Domkhedi,
Nimgavan and Sikka. A later enquiry from the Dhadgaoan police station by
a supporter seems to confirm this figure. The police told him that total
arrested were 122. This indicates that people in Domkhedi too may have
been arrested, but we have no independent confirmation of the same.
JALSINDHI CENTRE
There is no news of Jalsindhi centre and what is happening there. We
only know that senior activists along with villagers have been sitting
there. In the evening (on 17.9.99) the Commissioner Indore informed in
Indore to a friend that waters were 2 mts below the hut in Jalsindhi and
that the administration was monitoring the situation. In the evening at
about 7 pm the SDM and Collector, Jhabua Dist. were seen going towards
the village.
WATER LEVELS
Water levels are rising slowly, slower than expected, but steadily.
Meanwhile, the reports are that there has been big flood in Hoshangabad
and waters had entered the town in the morning of 17.9.99. The waters
continued to rise and stabilised there at 1 pm. These waters are
expected to reach the satyagraha centres in about 30 hours from
Hoshangabad, i.e. about afternoon of 18.9.99 and submergence higher than
the last one is likely.
This means that the submergence situation will continue for at least a
couple of days.
ACTION ALERT
Given this serious situation it is necessary that the pressure be brought
on the state Governments - not to "rescue" the satyagrahis, but to point
out the seriousness and pressurise the Governments to handle the
fundamental issue for which the people are fighting, rather than
cosmetic and temporary solutions like "rescuing". The letters should
also tell the State that they alone are responsible for the destruction
and loss is any in the valley.
Important Addresses :
Dr. K. R. Narayanan,
The Honorable President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi
India
Fax +91 (011) 3014570, +91 (011) 3017290
+++++++++
Mr. Digvijay Singh
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Office of the Chief Minister
Vallabh Bhavan
Bhopal
Madhya Pradesh, India
Fax: +91 (755) 540 501
+++++++++++++++
Narayan Rane,
Chief Minster,
Mantralaya,
Mumbai,
Maharashtra
Fax : +91-22-363 1446 or 202 9214