Farmers from 20 villages of the Narmada valley have gone on a fast in protest against the administration’s instructions to vacate villages that are in the submergence zone of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
After getting permission from the Narmada Control Authority to close the floodgates of the Sardar Sarovar dam, the Gujarat government has closed all 30 gates of the dam, causing the water level to rise to 133 metres from 122 metres.
This is expected to generate hydel power, water fields and take drinking water to parts of Gujarat. But the raised level also brings many villages in the submergence zone, necessitating their abandonment.
“There is at present a relay hunger strike. About 200 people across 20 villages are fasting each day to make the point that they do not want to abandon their villages,” said Rahul Yadav of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. “They want rehabilitation at a place that has facilities like their villages, and not land that does not have basic facilities.”
“The Supreme Court had said that the villages concerned should be vacated by the end of the month. Rehabilitation has been offered to them and officials have visited the sites and expressed satisfaction with the facilities offered,” Barwani PRO Swadesh Silawat told The Hindu over phone.
The villages that are witness fasts include Bagud, Picchodi, Avalda, Chikhalda, Kadmal, Kharparkheda, Bajararkheda, Nisarpur, Kothada, Karodia, Bodhwada, Gopalpura, Gangali, Kavathi, Ekalbara, Semalda, and Parkhed.
“The government is asking us to leave our villages but it has not provided proper rehabilitation yet. We will vacate our villages only when the government provides proper rehabilitation with basic facilities,” Mr. Yadav said.
As The Hindu had reported a few days back from Barda in Barwani, villagers complained that they had been allotted land 7 km away from their villages, which was not easily accessible from their fields that were outside the submergence zone. Also, about 70 families had not been surveyed, villagers claimed, meaning that they had not got any alternative land.
