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DAM-L LS: Lifting Narmada Waters Vindicates NBA (fwd)
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Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:03:19 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: LS: Lifting Narmada Waters Vindicates NBA
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Narmada Bachao Andolan
62, M.G.Road, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh
Tel: 07290 - 22464
Press Note March 25th 2001
Lifting Narmada Waters Vindicates NBA's Position:
Demand Official Statement on Urban Allocation and Benefits to Kutch
and Saurashtra
The Narmada Waters flowing into the SSP canals, the Ajwa reservoir
for Baroda city, taps in Ahmedabad or even up to Gondal through Mahi
vindicates the position taken by NBA over years. We had always
claimed that the reservoir waters can be lifted and put into canals,
and taken away (through gravity principle) to Kutch and Saurashtra.
Against the government propaganda, our claim was that water can reach
the drought-affected areas even at 80mts height in 1995 onwards.
Any further raise of dam height will have an adverse effect on the
already fragile seismological zone, where the dam is being built. In
the aftermath of the devastating Gujarat earthquake, caution about
this aspect of large dams needs to be emphasised. Before any further
construction, proper seismological and geological studies have to be
carried out and in the absence of that, Gujarat and adjoining areas
will be under the threat of further devastating earthquakes. Instead,
proper and effective use of water at the present height will be much
feasible.
The government, on the other hand, was linking the height of the dam
with possible coverage of area to the benefit of irrigation and water
supply, rejecting the possibility of waters flowing to either
Ahmedabad or Kutch and Saurashtra without raising the height. The
waters, we assert, can even be taken to Kutch and Saurashtra at the
present height. It's now witnessed by the people of Gujarat that
politicians-bureaucrats nexus had been fooling them all these years
and they will further be betrayed unless certain questions and
demands are raised.
First of all, as one Minister, Mr. Rupala had stated, Gujarat can
receive its full benefits even at the present height by pumping the
water. There is a full plan of storing water in small ponds all over
the command which can provide work in the immediate future, cost much
less and can be filled during monsoon, with flood waters, without
raising the height. Why is Gujarat not considering the plan presented
by water resource experts?
Second, the waters reaching Gondal through Mahi should include extra,
unused waters of Mahi reservoir too, which is estimated to be
somewhere between 1 to 2 MAF - not a small quantum. Similarly Narmada
waters at Cambay, downstream of the dam is available for pipeline
scheme which can serve whole of Saurashtra and part of Kutch within
Rs.1100 crores. Why is government shy of giving priority to these
schemes and not giving in for the best of waters easily available
without the monstrous dam?
Third, the water supply to Ahmedabad and Baroda cities before it
reaches villages in the drought-affected areas today indicate that
the state government has changed its original plan to include cities.
People may look into the publicity material and official literature
of last 15 years and before published by Sardar Sarovar Nigam to know
that SSP waters were not to be supplied to cities only 135 towns and
initially about 4000 villages were to receive water. Later, the
number of villages was doubled and now the cities are to be the
beneficiaries without any change in the % allocation to drinking
water at the cost of irrigation area. If every way, the Saurashtra
and Kutch region which is even otherwise to receive irrigation for 9
and 2 % of their cultivable area only are to be at a loss as the
early stretches in the command (beneficiary area) will take away a
major chunk of water. Shouldn't the people of Gujarat demand a public
declaration on magnitude of water allocation to Rural and urban areas
and then to the Kutch and Saurashtra (not to be used as a bet but as
real beneficiaries).
Last but not the least, the dam, as per the latest statement by
ex-minister, Narmada would cost not less than Rs.25,000 crores. The
figure worked out from government documents tell us the final cost,
if the project is completed can't be less than Rs.44,000 crores.
Pushing the dam height again would require not only raising such a
colossal amount but also making available agricultural land and
resettlement sites for about 40,000 families that are still
habitating the villages in the three states Gujarat, Maharashtra and
and largest number in Madhya Pradesh on prime agricultural land and
best horticulture. Thousands of families in the downstream
(Garudeshwar to Bharuch) have begun facing and will face serious
water and fisheries problem with river blocked and no water allocated
to those areas in the original, flawed plan.
All this will take decades and can be pushed at a huge cost in human
displacement, environmental loss including high seismic risks as also
stalling all small projects tanks, check dams, repair and
desiltation in old projects in the needy areas as we saw the
possibility of, in Kutch itself. What will be the people's choice
against the corrupt and callous politicians bureaucrats nexus in
such a situation? The Outlook story, one can't forget, identified Mr.
Bhupesh Chudasama, Chairman, Sardar Sarovar Nigam as one of the
politicians linked with the builders. Will someone demand
investigation into already dug out and published instances of
corruption in SSP and beyond?
The seismic risk-factor can't be forgotten either. Narmada flows on
the Narmada Sone Lineament which is a rift and fault zone. 30 big
dams and 135 medium dams are planned into it, without complete,
comprehensive, cumulative impact-assessment, as per the judgment by
Justice Bharucha. The dam was cleared in 1987 only with a condition
that all impacts should be studied and compensatory / mitigatory
action plans prepared by 1989. The areas to be studied included
seismological risks. The same was not completed and the clearance
lapsed as proved in the Supreme Court and accepted by one of the
three eminent judges even though it was rejected as minority.
With Latur earthquake, the seismic map of India is changed and the
peninsular shield (with Gujarat, Maharashtra and part of Madhya
Pradesh) has became seismically quite active. The latest earthquake
with epicentre at Bhachau has been shown to be an extension of
Narmada Sone Lineament spread from Jabalpur till Bhavnagar. This is
according to none else but Dr. Harsh Gupta (his statement to the
press on Jan 27th, director, National Geophysical Research Institute
and chairman of the 500 scientists team that worked on a remapping of
seismic hazards in India. The work of converting the hazards-map into
a risk-map is on. There is no doubt that the seismic risk is Narmada
Sone Lineament is triggered off. The dam not having damaged this time
as the epicentre was far off doesn't mean anything. It doesn't prove
anyone wrong or right. Even if tomorrow earthquake appears near the
dam-site (as it happened in Koyna, Bargi and Sukta dam in Narmada
Valley, and is happening in Idukki dam area in Kerala phenomenon
termed as Reservoir Induced Seismicity) the dam may remain safe but
not the much weakens buildings in the affected zone. Who would be
responsible? Dr.P.P.Patel, water resource expert and a team of
scientists who studied the earthquake, have concluded the risk in
their report.
It is, therefore, necessary and urgent that people of Gujarat who
lose at the nature's wrath triggered as man-made disasters, demand a
thorough investigation into seismic risk before any further work on
the big gigantic Sardar Sarovar is taken up? Displacement or
Devastation can't be avoided unless the civil society rise up to
challenge the selfish politicians bluffing them through every
scandal. SSP will be much bigger than Tahelka, we warn.
(Medha Patkar)
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