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dam-l LS: PR: Ogden Commit to Talks on Maheshwar Dam
Narmada Solidarity Coalition of New York - sg219@is6.nyu.edu
Friends of the Narmada - venu@narmada.org
International Rivers Network - patrick@irn.org
PRESS RELEASE
June 22, 2000
OGDEN COMMIT TO TALKS ON NARMADA DAM AT ANNUAL MEETING PROTEST
New York-based Ogden Corp. has agreed to talk with affected community
representatives before investing in the controversial Maheshwar Dam
on India's Narmada River. In March this year, Ogden Corp. signed a
Memorandum of Intent to take a 49% shareholding in the 400 megawatt
Maheshwar dam, in partnership with the Indian textile company S.
Kumars.
Patrick McCully, Campaigns Director of International Rivers Network,
said "While we welcome Ogden's commitment to talk to local
communities, they should have done this before signing the memorandum
with S.Kumars. If Ogden carries out talks in good faith they will
realise that the project can only be built by violating the rights of
affected people."
The Maheshwar Dam will displace over 35,000 people in 61 villages. No
comprehensive resettlement plan exists and no acceptable replacement
land is available for those who would lose their fertile riverside
fields. Electricity generated by the dam would cost four to five
times more than power currently generated in the state of Madhya
Pradesh. Contractors at the dam site are reportedly using illegal
child and bonded labor.
Intense local opposition to the project has resulted in numerous dam
site occupations, marches, rallies and hunger strikes which despite
mass arrests and beatings at the hands of police have forced long
delays in project construction. Local opponents are part of the
Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA, or the Save the Narmada Movement), which
has for more than a decade been struggling for the rights of
dam-affected people throughout the Narmada Valley.
Ogden's commitment to talks was made at a meeting with a delegation
from a protest held outside their annual shareholders meeting in New
York on June 14. The protest was called by three U.S.-based
organizations, the Narmada Solidarity Coalition of New York, the
Friends of the Narmada, and International Rivers Network.
Protestors held placards saying "Stop Ogden Corp! Save India's
Narmada River!", "Dam Ogden's Cash Flow!" and "Og-Den of Thieves".
They also handed out copies of a letter to Ogden shareholders
compiled by International Rivers Network which supports the NBA's
demand that Ogden should immediately withdraw from the project.
Ogden Corp. Senior Vice-President, Kent Burton, and head of Ogden's
Asia Division, Ashish Sarkar, promised the protest delegation they
would start multilateral talks by August with all "stakeholders" of
the Maheshwar project, including the NBA and members of all affected
communities. The protest delegation included Venu Govindu of the
Friends of the Narmada, Sheila Ghose and Chandana Mathur of the
Narmada Solidarity Coalition of New York, and Smitu Kothari of
Lokayan, an India-based organization.
Mr Burton assured the delegation that human rights and environmental
considerations would not be disregarded by the company, and that they
were committed to pursuing a democratic, transparent process in their
involvement in the project. Mr Burton said that Ogden had already
defined a "kill date" - a date when they would withdraw if their
stated commitments to social and environmental principles are not
satisfied.
A number of international investors have already pulled out of the
Maheshwar project citing social, environmental and economic concerns.
These include San Francisco engineering giant Bechtel, Oregon utility
PacifiCorp, Dutch Bank ABN-Amro, and two German utilities, VEW
Energie and Bayernwerk.
Despite Ogden's statements, the NBA remains skeptical of the
company's intentions. Ogden has failed to reply to three separate
letters from the NBA and an Ogden team recently visited the
dam-affected area along with project developers S.Kumars without
contacting the NBA. The team's visit was interrupted by NBA
supporters in local villages who made them listen to the complaints
of hundreds of affected people and showed them the poor quality land
being offered as a replacement to the fertile lands to be submerged.
The Ogden team did not answer questions about the cost of electricity
from the dam and
the availability of land for rehabilitation.
Critics also point to Ogden Corporation's poor environmental track
record in the U.S. with its solid waste disposal and incinerator
units.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
<www.narmada.org> <www.irn.org>
Venu Madhav Govindu, Friends of the Narmada, New Jersey:
venu@narmada.org tel. +1 609 951 2823 (o) +1 609-799-5907 (h)
Patrick McCully, International Rivers Network, California:
patrick@irn.org tel. +1 510 848 1155 (o) +1 510 528 2930 (h)
Sheila Ghose, Narmada Solidarity Coalition of New York
sg219@is6.nyu.edu tel. +1 212 627-4659
Chittaroopa Palit, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Madhya Pradesh
nobigdam@vsnl.org tel. +91 7290 22464