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dam-l URGENT! ENDORSEMENTS SOUGHT - MAHESHWAR SIGN-ON LETTER TO OGDEN
URGENT ! URGENT !URGENT !URGENT !URGENT !URGENT !URGENT !
STOP OGDEN CORPORATION'S FINANCING OF MAHESHWAR DAM!
PLEASE ENDORSE THE FOLLOWING SIGN-ON LETTER!
US-based Ogden Corporation is considering purchasing a 49% equity share in
the Maheshwar Dam in India. Massive resistance against the project has
forced the withdrawal of 2 German companies and an American company in
recent years. On February 24, 2000, thousands of people in India launched
an indefinite protest to stop construction of the dam which would affect
35,000 people. There is clear evidence that no land is available for
resettlement.
We urge you to endorse the letter below to Ogden Corporation urging them to
withdraw from the project. If you are able to endorse the letter, please
send your name, affiliation and country to Susanne Wong at International
Rivers Network (swong@irn.org) BY MONDAY, MARCH 13.
Please do all you can to collect endorsements among your own networks.
Thank you for your time and apologies for cross-postings.
Susanne Wong
International Rivers Network
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SIGN-ON LETTER TO OGDEN CORPORATION
March ?, 2000
Scott G. Mackin
President and CEO
Ogden Corporation
Two Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, NY 10121
Dear Mr. Mackin,
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, urge Ogden Corporation
to withdraw from the Maheshwar Dam in Madhya Pradesh, India.
The Maheshwar Dam would displace more than 35,000 farmers, wage laborers,
fishers and crafts people in 61 villages and submerge about 5,700 hectares
of rich agricultural lands. Independent investigations both by the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences and the German NGO Urgewald have found that
resettlement planning for this project is totally inadequate and that no
land is available to provide land-for-land resettlement as stipulated by
the Narmada Tribunal Award, the Madhya Pradesh rehabilitation policy, and
the statutory environmental clearance of the Ministry of Environment and
Forests.
The project is in clear violation of the conditions under which it received
its environmental and techno-economic clearances from the central
government. The conditional clearance given by the Environment Ministry on
January 7, 1994 stipulated that all people affected by Maheshwar must be
rehabilitated and resettled by 1997-1998. The clearance also stated that
the Environment Msinistry reserves the right to revoke the Environmental
Clearance of the Project (under the Environment Protection Act 1986) in
case of violation of the stipulated conditions.
The Madhya Pradesh government has admitted to the Supreme Court of India
that it has no land to resettle people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar
Project downstream of Maheshwar. People displaced by the Bargi and Tawa
Dams are still fighting for resettlement 10 and 25 years, respectively,
after the dams were completed. Based on the state's past performance, how
and where will the Madhya Pradesh goverment resettle people displaced by
the Maheshwar Dam?
The affected people, led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan which has campaigned
for 15 years to stop dams on the Narmada River, are determined that they
will never let the project be built. Over the last two years, thousands of
farmers whose lives and livelihoods will be destroyed by the Maheshwar Dam
have occupied the dam site nine times, barricaded all roads leading to the
dam for three months, and held mass demonstrations and hunger strikes
opposing the dam.
On February 24, 2000, several thousand people affected by the project began
an indefinite protest in front of the project office near Mandleshwar. The
protestors have vowed to remain there until the Indian government stops the
project and initiates a full review of alternatives.
Meanwhile, the project continues to be plagued by financial problems.
Electricity generated by the dam is projected to cost four to five times
more than current electricity produced by Madhya Pradesh. The Madhya
Pradesh Electricity Board, which is supposed to purchase power from the
project, is on the verge of bankruptcy and is likely to default on its
payments. Due to the project's serious financial risks and intense
opposition from local people and Indian and international environmental and
human rights groups, U.S. power utility PacifiCorp backed out of the
project in 1998, and German utilities Bayernwerk and VEW Energie pulled out
in April 1999.
The undersigned organizations are determined to support and publicize the
struggle of the villagers in the Narmada Valley. We call upon your company
to withdraw from Maheshwar and decline involvement in a project which is
based on the destruction of local peoples' livelihoods.
We look forward to your response to our concerns.
Endorsed by:
**IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ENDORSE THE LETTER, PLEASE SEND US THE FOLLOWING
INFORMATION.
NAME:
AFFILIATION:
COUNTRY: