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dam-l LS: Public Hearing on Maheshwar Organised by NCW
Press Note 16th March, 2000
NATIONAL COMMISSION OF WOMEN ASKS GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC
UTILITY OF PROJECTS BEFORE DISPLACING PEOPLE
Maheshwar Project-Affected Women Demand that the Project be Scrapped
Dr. Syeda Hameed of the National Commission of Women (NCW) today
declared her support for the demand of the Maheshwar Project-affected
people that public utility of projects should be established before
any displacement takes place. Dr. Hameed was speaking yesterday at a
public hearing held by the NCW in Pathrad village, which is one of
the 61 villages affected by the Maheshwar Hydel Power Project, a
project being privately promoted by S. Kumars.
At this hearing, attended by around 7,000 women and 3,000 men from
Maheshwar affected villages, Dr. Hameed said that the NCW is the
highest body in the country on women's issues and has always raised
its voice in protest against the violent tactics used by the state to
suppress the legitimate struggle of people in the Narmada Valley. In
today's hearing, Dr. Hameed noted that the women of the Maheshwar
area are unanimously against cash compensation. Instead, what the
women of the area want is rehabilitation in the real sense of the
word, and this means that the government has to provide land for
land. However, only when the public utility of the Project is
established beyond doubt can questions of rehabilitation be brought
up, though it may be noted that so far the Madhya Pradesh government
has not been able to show a single inch of cultivable land to the
Project-affected people.
Before Dr, Hameed addressed the audience, several Project-affected
women spoke about their strong opposition to the Project. and
demanded that work on the dam be stopped immediately. Welcoming Dr.
Hameed, Kala Bai of Sulgaon village presented her with a resolution
signed by the MLA of Barwah, Shri Jagdish Morania, and by around 300
members of the panchayats, janpad panchayats, and district panchayats
of the region demanding that the Maheshwar Project be scrapped.
Kamla Bai of Pathrad village talked about the spirited struggle
fought by people in the Maheshwar area for the last 3 years. She
questioned why a government elected by the people took the side of a
private company, S. Kumars. She said that the violence perpetrated on
the affected women on International Women's Day, the 8th of March,
was completely reprehensible. She said that the government has to
answer for the illegal and unconstitutional arrests from a place of
peaceful dharna, the disrobing of a woman activist, and the violent
lathi charge. She also demanded that the Collector Khargone, Shri
Bhopal Singh must be immediately dismissed.
Ajodhya Bai of Behegaon said that the river Narmada was the sole
source of livelihood for the Kevat-Kahar communities. By constructing
a dam on the river, this entire community will lose drawdown
agricultural lands, sand quarries, and access to fish which is an
important source of nutrition for their families.
Ganu Bai, a member of the Harijan community of Sulgaon village, said
that this dam will totally destroy our existence because we are
dependent on the river Narmada for all our sources of income. She
said that, if we accept cash compensation, then we will lose not only
the river Narmada and its banks where we live, but also the support
of our own and other neighboring communities. Puni Jiji of Sulgaon
said that after facing so much police brutality, including lathi
charges, beatings and arrests, we are ready today to face anything,
including the rising waters of the dam.
Parvati Bai of Behgaon narrated the Maheshwar women's visit to the
Bargi dam affected areas and said that the only way to stop similar
destruction in the Maheshwar region would be for the women and men to
unite and fight against this injustice. She said that cash
compensation will never be accepted as it is very clear to all the
women that this will not allow them to restore their communities. Dr.
Hameed then intervened to ask the 8,000 strong gathering of women and
also the men their views on cash compensation. The entire audience
then strongly opposed any offer of any amount of cash compensation.
Basanti Behn, from the Bargi Bandh Visthapith Evam Prabhavith
Sangathan, narrated the experiences of the people affected by the
Bargi dam- the first large dam on the Narmada. She said that before
the dam was built we were well-off farmers. But after the dam the
lives and livelihoods of people in the 162 affected villages were
totally ruined. She called on the women of Maheshwar to continue
their struggle against the complete destruction that would be
unleashed once the dam is constructed.
After this, Alok Agarwal, one of the main activists of the Narmada
Bachao Andolan and the Maheshwar struggle, addressed the audience and
said that the people had repeatedly raised questions about the
utility of the Project, and the government had repeatedly proved its
inability to answer these questions. The Khargone district
administration had always resorted to either avoidance or repression
whenever people tried to get answers to their questions. He demanded
that the Collector of Khargone, Mr. Bhopal Singh, should be dismissed
because of the unconstitutional act of arresting peaceful agitators
and misusing Section 144.
Noted author Arundhati Roy said that she was very disturbed when she
was taken to jail in an S. Kumars vehicle after her arrest during the
11th January capture of the dam site by the project-affected people.
She said that this was a glaring example of the extent to which the
state had sold itself to a private company. She also said that while
the government constantly accused the Andolan of being supported
mainly by outsiders, it itself did not hesitate to approve projects
like Maheshwar which were dependent to a very large extent on foreign
capital.
The representatives of various people's and women's organizations,
including Kisan Adivasi Sangathan (Kesla, M. P.), Shramik Adivasi
Sangathan (Betul, M. P.), Agragamee (Orissa), Abhivyakti,
(Maharashtra), and Streevedi (Kerala) then addressed the gathering
and expressed their support for the struggling women and men of the
Maheshwar region. The entire hearing was conducted by Urmila Patidar
of Pathrad village.
(Chittaroopa Palit)
Narmada Bachao Andolan