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DAM-L request for action/ sardar sarovar project
----- Forwarded message from owner-irn-narmada@netvista.net -----
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 16:37:50 -0700 (PDT)
subject: ACTION: Sign the Petition to Stop the Sardar Sarovar Project!
Sender: owner-irn-narmada@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP SSP!
Support the Struggle to Stop Dams on India's Narmada River!
In mid-September, Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee will come to the US
on a visit to stir up business for India. Join us in sending him a message
that people in the US are opposed to unjust development in the Narmada
Valley and urge him to initiate a review of the controversial Sardar
Sarovar Project. Sign the petition below and circulate it to your friends
and colleagues. Please contact swong@irn.org if you are interested in
circulating a hard copy of the petition.
You can sign the petition online at
http://www.irn.org/programs/india/petition.000823.html or reply to this
email with your contact info.
-----------------------------------------------
PLEASE SIGN AND CIRCULATE BY SEPTEMBER 6!
Shri Pradhan Mantriji (Honourable Prime Minister),
Welcome to the United States of America. We, members of the Indian
community and concerned citizens in the US, would like to voice our full
support for the people fighting against destructive dams in India's Narmada
Valley. We believe that a comprehensive review of the massive Sardar
Sarovar Project should be initiated.
The Sardar Sarovar Project, if completed, would uproot the lives and
cultures of nearly half a million people and submerge tens of thousands of
hectares of forests and fertile agricultural land.No comprehensive policy
is in place to ensure just compensation and rehabilitation for affected
people. It has been demonstrated time and again that there is no land for
rehabilitating the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by SSP.
In your letter to Ms. Medha Patkar (dated Sept. 22, 1999) you acknowledged
the complexity and magnitude of the problem of displacement, but almost a
year has passed and 12,000 tribals, dalits and peasants of the Narmada
Valley have once again been forced to face submergence in this monsoon.
They vow to remain on their lands and risk losing their lands and lives
rather than sacrifice for an unjust project.
The tremendous human and ecological cost of SSP is being justified in the
name of bringing water to people living in the most drought-prone areas of
Gujarat state. Yet, even official estimates indicate that only 2% of Kutch
and 9% of Saurashtra lie in the project's command area. Instead of solving
the acute water shortages in the region, SSP is coming in the way of
finding more reliable and long lasting solutions to the problem of drought,
by consuming more than 80 % of the state's irrigation budget.
While the needs of power generation, irrigation, and drinking water are
very real and pressing, the solutions to these problems should also be
practical and just.Effective, equitable and sustainable alternatives exist
and have been practiced in India with much success. Water harvesting
schemes in Gujarat and Rajasthan have enabled several communities to ward
off severe water shortages during the last few years.
We urge you, Shri Vajpayeeji, to pay attention to the voices from the
Narmada Valley, for the voices have in them a conviction of truth. We call
on you to initiate a comprehensive, transparent and participatory review of
SSP.What India sorely needs at this time is a more just and equitable form
of development. We support the people of the Narmada Valley in this quest
and will continue to do so until their voices are heard and justice is done.
Sincerely,
NAME:
CITY, STATE:
COUNTRY:
Citizen of India?