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DAM-L NBA PR: No German Money For Maheshwar Project
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Jail Road, Mandleshwar
District Khargone, M.P., India
Telefax: 07283-33162
E-Mail: nobigdam@vsnl.com
Press Release, 29.08.2000, Bhopal
ANOTHER NAIL IN THE COFFIN OF THE MAHESHWAR PROJECT:
NO GERMAN MONEY FOR THE MAHESHWAR PROJECT
SIEMENS WITHDRAWS APPLICATION FOR HERMES EXPORT GUARANTEE,
HYPOVEREINSBANK BACKS OUT OF RS.530 CRORE LOAN COMMITMENT
In an important victory for the struggling people of the Narmada
valley, German multinational company Siemens has withdrawn its
application for a Hermes export guarantee for the Maheshwar Project
from the German government. Simultaneously, the private
HypoVereinsbank of Germany has stated that it will now no longer be
in a position to honor its commitment to give a Rs.530 crore loan to
the Maheshwar Project. This decision has been greeted by jubilation
all through the valley. The decisions by the Siemens and the
HypoVereinsbank will mean that now there will be no German money for
the Maheshwar Project. It is clear that the decision Siemens was
compelled to take is a direct consequence of the mass struggle in the
valley in the last 4 years by the affected farmers, workers,
boatspeople and fisherpeople, as well as the international solidarity
and understanding that has supported it. Without doubt the withdrawal
of the Hermes guarantee is yet another nail in the coffin of the
Maheshwar Project.
The Maheshwar Hydroelectric Project will submerge the lands, homes
and livelihoods of over 40,000 people in 61 villages and inundate
thousands of acres of rich deep black cotton soils, scores of
extremely profitable sand quarries that support thousands of landless
people and a rich composite culture. The people of this area have
been struggling against this destruction and displacement as well as
raising the issue of the prohibitively expensive power to be produced
by this Project that will bring darkness rather than light to the
people of Madhya Pradesh.
It was on the 23rd of January,1997, that Siemens had applied to the
German government for a Hermes guarantee for a tied loan to be given
by the HypoVereinsbank to the Maheshwar Project for the purchase of
generating equipment from Siemens. In response to the mass struggle
in the valley and in order to take a well-considered decision, in May
2000 the Development Ministry of the German government commissioned a
team of international experts to investigate the status of
rehabilitation and resettlement in the Project.
Soon after the team gave its report on the 15th of June this year
sharply indicting the Project, Siemens told the German government
that it would submit a report that would present substantially
different findings about the status of rehabilitation in the valley.
The fact that it then chose to withdraw the application itself
instead of substantiating its differences demonstrates that Siemens
has no answer to the basic finding of the report: that the
rehabilitation of the affected communities is impossible.
The Siemens decision is a vindication of the issues that the affected
people have been raising over the last four years vis-a-vis
displacement: essentially that the impacts on people and the rich
natural resources of the area will be much larger than anticipated,
and that compensation of these losses and rehabilitation of the
affected people is impossible. It is clear to all that if this
project is built, enormous human rights repression and large scale
destruction of rich natural resources and communities is inevitable.
Since this cannot be acceptable, the project has to be stalled.
The Siemens decision to withdraw the application for the Hermes
guarantee is a major victory not only for the people of the Narmada
valley who have fought against this Project tooth and nail for the
last four years, facing repeated arrests, beatings and indignities in
the process, but also for all struggling people of the world who are
facing the onslaught of a process of globalisation that bears no
accountability to peoples and environments, and which puts the search
for super profits over livelihoods .
We understand the "alternative financing" that Siemens now hopes to
find is at best an attempt to save their own face as well as those of
their partners, and at worst, an attempt to continue to participate
in this project through other means fully knowing its destructive
consequences, establishing thereby that markets matter more to it
than people and that its behaviour as a corporation will not be
guided by the minimum norms of human rights acceptable in a civilised
society.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan and the people of the Narmada valley are
confident that they will successfully halt this Project in the next
few months. Even at present the project is in a situation of complete
paralysis. The American power utility PacGen withdrew from the
Project in 1998 and two German power utilities, Bayernwerk and VEW
Energie, were compelled to withdraw in 1999 because of the strong
opposition to the project in the Narmada valley. The situation on the
ground is that the project has not been able to achieve even
financial closure in the last few years, let alone go ahead with any
substantial construction.
The Central Power Ministry had announced that it would complete
financial closure of this Project within 100 days after coming to
power in October 1999. However because of the perseverance and
struggle of the affected people the closure could not be effected. It
is also a fact that all construction on this project has been stopped
for the last few months because of the financially jeopardised
situation of the project promoters, including the failure of their
other projects. Therefore it is only a matter of time that the
Project promoters - S.Kumars themselves - will withdraw from this
project and the project will be discarded forever.
The affected people of the Narmada valley are resolved to continue
and intensify their struggle until this destructive Project is
completely stopped and the cheaper, better, and less socially and
environmentally destructive energy and water alternatives are put in
its place.
Chittaroopa Palit
Mangat Verma, Village Lepa, District Khargone
Sanjay Nigam, Village Mardana, District Khargone
Alok Agarwal
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