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DAM-L LS: Survey of SSP-Affected Jalsindhi Village Wrong by 3 Metres. (fwd)
subject: LS: Survey of SSP-Affected Jalsindhi Village Wrong by 3 Metres.
Sender: owner-irn-narmada@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
Press Note 21.8.2000
Survey in SSP affected Jalsindhi village wrong by 3 metres.
Gross Underestimation of Impacts
Casting serious doubts of the authenticity of the surveys conducted
by the different governments in the Narmada valley, independent
surveys have revealed that the level of Jalsindhi (Madhya Pradesh)
mentioned in the govt. records are wrong by 3 mts.
A study conducted by Dr.Ravi Kuchimanchi and a team have conclusively
proved that the survey of levels in the Sardar Sarovar Dam project
can be off by as much as 3 metres so as to grossly under-estimate the
amount of submergence. On the banks of the Narmada, in the village of
Jalsindhi in Madhya Pradesh the elevation of the lowest house as per
papers given by the government is 101.5 metres. However according to
independent measurements, Loharia’s house in Jalsindhi is only at
98.4 metres and thus is actually 3.1 metres lower. Last year when the
Narmada rose to 98.8 metres on Sept 21, waters entered Loharia’s
house and people were standing knee deep in it, challenging the
unjust SSP dam. If the lowest homestead in Jalsindhi was actually at
101.5 metres, waters should not have entered even a single house in
that village. The study has also found that in the Hapeshwar temple,
(in Gujarat) the benchmark is off by 3 metres and so were the
readings of water levels measured by the government at this site in
the past years. Benchmarks are supposed to be highly accurate, even
to the last millimeter and this one that says 105.900 metres is
actually at 103 metres! Last week the poles leading to the Narmada
river showing the Hapeshwar water level have been painted over.
Perhaps they will now be corrected, but nevertheless it proves that
benchmarks along the Narmada river had errors of upto 3 metres when
the government surveys were done, and this is not good news for those
who are facing submergence by the monster dam.
This proves a gross underestimation of the effects of submergence in
the valley during this monsoon and after. Hundreds of families, who
did not find their names, as ‘affected’ will have to pay for this
callousness. The affidavits submitted in the Supreme Court about the
people who will get affected this monsoon, and the steps taken to
rehabilitate them will also be proved wrong by this.
The consequences of this underestimation can be well noted in the
case of Bargi dam the first major dam completed on Narmada in 1990.
Bargi dam, which was originally supposed to submerge only 101
villages, ended up drowning 162 villages. People who were moved to
rehabilitation sites were submerged for a second and sometimes even a
third time because waters entered even these supposedly “higher”
places. Rehabilitation sites, schools, hand pumps etc which the govt.
built for the affected met a watery grave by the dam completed.
To further prove the point, in Chilkada, Alirajpur tehsil, in two
different set of government papers, the height of the lowest
homestead has been shown differently -- on one it has been given as
115.84 metres and on the other there is a home at 113.74 metres and
no home at 115.84 metres! The horror of displacement is such that
when a house or farm is situated even one inch above the stones laid
by the government, the person is not considered Project Affected and
no one, including the GRA, listens to their complaints. They are just
dismissed rudely. That the village person thinks water will enter
his/her house is ofcourse ignored as the system is not friendly to
hearing the views of the affected people they rely on the government
records. When a farmer or adivasi is expected to lose less than 25%
of land in submergence, he/she is not entitled to land for land
compensation. In this situation, surveys being off by even a few
centimetres can make a difference on percentage of land lost and
whether there will be land for land or not. The Bargi experience of
rehabilitation sites themselves submerging, may also repeat if the
surveys are wrong at the sites. To exemplify, Chandankhedi
rehabilitation site in Kukshi tahsil, district Dhar and Bhawati in
District Badwani, are according to the government surveys, at 143
metres less than 2 metres above the backwaters that will cross 141
metres if the dam is completed.
To make matters worse the way the governments indicate where the
waters will reach in a village is highly arbitrary. In Chilkada
village, MP, the officials installed stones with no numbers on them
and villagers who enquired were told verbally that waters would reach
there on completion of the dam. But three years ago all such stones
have been removed and put about 6 metres lower, and once again no
numbers were on them. In villages like Sikka in Maharashtra a pile of
stones was put this year and some lime has been poured over them and
once again no informative numbers are put. People who were present
when they were being piled up were told that waters would reach there
this year. In Badwani, MP almost exactly near the 436 feet stones put
in the recent years, on the road in a couple of places there are much
older stones of 411 feet! In some places there are 436 and 455 feet
stones together but according to the officials this is because the
back waters of the FRL 436 feet reach the 455 area. That may be the
case, but then how does one explain the old 411 stones? The highly
accurate surveys were wrong either now or in the past or probably at
both times by different amounts.
It is evident that there is no land to rehabilitate all the people
and farms being displaced by the SSP dam. On top of this the
government surveys are understating the amount of submergence and
information given to the people is confusing, arbitrary and
contradictory. There is neither will nor ability to rehabilitate
people according to the Narmada Tribunal and the amount of
destruction that is being done by the SSP dam is far too great to
even estimate. It must be recognized that the project itself is
nonviable and illegal, having violated not only the Tribunal but also
environmental laws, and should be stopped and completely reviewed
taking the affected people into confidence and with their
participation.
NBA takes serious note of this and urge all the state governments to
stall all work related to the dam including the illegal distribution
of cash in M.P. Unless a proper survey is carried out in Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh again, one will not be able to assess
the impacts and thus will fall behind preparation for rehabilitation
of thousands more, who have not yet found in the records of the
governments. To avoid a grave human tragedy, all concerned should
take immediate steps to see that the basic surveys are corrected and
the impacts rightly assessed, before pushing the project on political
reasons and for protecting vested interests.
M.K.Sukumar Joe Athialy
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