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dam-l LS: "Gujarat averts a crisis"
Gujarat averts a crisis
The Hindu
Tuesday, December 07, 1999
By Manas Dasgupta
GANDHINAGAR, DEC. 6. The symbolic ``kar seva'' by the pro-dam Narmada Jan
Andolan, an offshoot of the Maharashtra Shetkari Sangathan, at the dam site
in Kevadiya Colony on Saturday was a major success for the BJP Government
in Gujarat in defusing the crisis threatening to cause further delay in
the implementation of the long-awaited project.
The Andolan all along had the tacit support of the Government. Initially it
encouraged the pro-dam forces to plan massive demonstrations both within
and outside the State to counter the tirade against it by the Narmada
Bachao Andolan and tell the world that the supporters of the dam project
outnumbered opponents. But the timings of the kar seva programme proved
inconvenient to the Government in view of the case pending before the
Supreme Court. When the programme was announced by the Sangathan chief,
Mr. Sharad Joshi, in October, the Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel,
even offered to be present during the ceremony but later it dawned on the
State Government that its open support might be misunderstood by the apex
court and could prejudice its case as the court criticised the NBA
leaders, Ms. Medha Patkar and Ms. Arundhati Roy, for organising public
rallies against the project even when it was seized of the matter.
The State Government objected to the NJA offering the kar seva inside the
restricted areas of the dam for fear of the Madhya Pradesh Government
making it an issue in the apex court and cause further delay in the
project implementation.
The Government offered to cooperate if Mr. Joshi shifted the site of the
kar seva outside the restricted areas which would not come under court
purview. But his refusal, apparently for fear of losing credibility among
his supporters, made the Government impose prohibitory orders.
Significantly the Narmada Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaynarayan Vyas, could
achieve the objective he was propagating earlier by making the kar sevaks
toe his line. Mr. Vyas had no objection to the kar sevaks collecting water
downstream, but Mr. Joshi and his Congress(I) supporters were insisting on
climbing the dam wall to collect water upstream and pour it into the main
canal as a symbolic gesture of ``initiating'' the project.
First Mr. Vyas ordered the authorities concerned to release a substantial
quantum of water from the dam to reduce the level and thereby make it
impossible for the kar sevaks to reach for the water. Later, he allowed a
handful of kar sevaks and their main leaders, including Mr. Joshi and the
former Union Minister, Mrs. Urmilaben Patel, to ``penetrate'' the police
security at the dead of night and surface downstream to offer the kar
seva.In a bid to avert a confrontation between the security staff and the
demonstrators, the Government did not allow the kar sevaks to march to
Kevadiya Colony in large numbers and detained most of them at transit
camps in Baroda, Ankleshwar, Netrang and other places where they had been
waiting to leave for the dam site the next morning. It allowed the leaders
to perform kar seva downstream as was originally suggested by Mr. Vyas.
This, apparently, was a face-saving device for both the State Government
and the NJA since a confrontation between the police and the pro-dam
forces could have been counter-productive. The BJP leadership, which was
planning to send party workers in large numbers to Kevadiya Colony to
squat on the roads and prevent the kar sevaks from entering the restricted
areas, was also persuaded against implementing the programme to prevent a
clash between the two sections of the pro-dam forces.
The former national president of the Youth Congress(I) and supporter of the
NJA, Mr. Satyajit Gaekwad, claimed that Mr. Vyas was in touch with the
Andolan leaders the previous day to persuade them to perform a token kar
seva downstream and resolve the crisis for the time being but backtracked
later and the local police threatened to arrest all the leaders to
frustrate the move.
Mr. Gaekwad's claim that the Andolan leaders planned to march through the
jungle route to reach the dam site and flout the prohibitory orders seems
untenable. The move was neither surprising nor clandestine as the NJA
leaders had even taken presspersons with them during the night journey and
it is difficult to comprehend that the police could be unaware of the
route. Apparently Mr. Joshi and company were enacting the drama skilfully
scripted by Mr. Vyas, and a major crisis surrounding the ``lifeline of
Gujarat'' was averted.
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