Indira Sagar project : GRA Report confirms lack of rehabilitation, Thousands of families present in the submergence area
Posted on July 21 2005 |
The Report of the Grievance Redressal Authority, Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar Projects submitted to the Madhya Pradesh High Court on the 24th of June 2005 after a visit to the submergence zone covering nearly 40 villages has vindicated the concerns raised by the NBA. The report has found that most of the thousands of oustee families of the 91 villages slated for submergence this year are still living in their houses, that compensation by and large has been paid very late in late May and early June and that more than 25% of the oustees are yet to be paid compensation. The GRA also noted that FRL surveys have been found wrong and are now being freshly undertaken, that Back water surveys have not been worked out properly which may lead to many un-slated areas being submerged, and that several villages that were slated to be submerged this year were submerged last year itself. The GRA also confirmed that affected families had not been allotted agricultural land, and that the new sites being developed were without amenities. The GRA also stated that the oustees have refused to break or leave their houses in the monsoon because of the delayed payments and this could be justified in the light of certain Supreme Court judgments.
It may be noted that since by March-April 2005, the large majority of the oustees of the Indira Sagar Project were yet to receive compensation let alone received agricultural land and rehabilitation benefits, although the Government had already notified that the villages be vacated by the 30th of April, 2005, the Narmada Bachao Andolan filed a public interest petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in early May 2005 making the Central and the State governments respondents. The interim prayer of the petition is that the gates of the dam be kept open until all oustees are rehabilitated in accordance with state policy, Narmada Award and Supreme Court Orders.
On the 18th of May 2005, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the GRA under the Chairmanship of Shri Ravindra Sharma to assess the compliance of the NHDC with the provisions of the NWDTA, that is whether land for land with a minimum of 2 hectares of land and house sites had been allotted, and whether the required compensation had been paid to the affected families of the 91 villages slated to be submerged this year. The Report is to form the basis of the decision to be taken by the High Court on the 29th of June as to whether to close the gates of the Indira Sagar dam or not.
The Indira Sagar Project will have the largest impoundment in the country of 91,000 hectares or nearly 2,20,000 acres. Of this, 62,000 hectares are slated to be submerged this year with the closure of the gates. Summer releases from the Project early this year has already resulted in the death of nearly one hundred people who were swept away by the waters. The downstream and upstream impact of this huge impoundment may well be imagined.
Narmada Award applicable to ISP
The GRA Report has stated its view that the provisions of the NWDTA (Narmada Waters Disputes Award Tribunal) is applicable to the Indira Sagar Project. In this context it says
"There has been a dispute between the petitioners and the respondents regarding the applicability of the Narmada Waters Disputes Tribunal Award to Indira Sagar Project. We, however feel that this should not be a disputed position as the MOU signed between the State Government and the Narmada Hydro-Electric Development Corporation dated 16.05.2000 also contains clause VI(a) underlining the applicability of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and the Notification of the Ministry of Water
Resources, Government of India dated 3rd June 1987 also confirms this position."
Majority of the oustees living in the submergence zone
In regard to the written contention of the NHDC in Court that 90% of the villagers had broken their houses and vacated the villages with the remains of their dwelling places, and therefore the interim prayer to keep the gates is redundant, the Report of the GRA states
"We noticed with a few exceptions out of 91 villages, the oustees have not yet physically moved out and only a few have dismantled their dwellings. In such a situation, the State Government and so, also the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation is expected pay adequate attention to the safety of life and property of the villagers coming under submergence."
The GRA report also encloses data submitted by the NHDC during the course of the investigation that shows that 70% of the houses in the submergence zone have not been broken and the oustee families are living in their villages.
Delayed or no payments of compensation: Impossible to break houses in the monsoon
The GRA Report annexes the NHDC data submitted during investigation that 25% of compensation for lands and houses is left to be paid by the 11th of June. The GRA however expresses the view that the extent of non-payment is far greater and that even those who have been paid have been mostly paid very late in May or in early June. The Report states :
"Though the NHDC in the information provided to us has indicated that payments have been sanctioned/made, our field visit provided a slightly different picture. In quite a number of villages out of the said 91 villages, the payments have been made in the last week of May and the first week of June 2005 and the process is still
on."
Further, the GRA has stated
"The contention of the oustees is that they are still in the process of receiving the compensation and the monsoon is only a fortnight away and it would be real hardship for them to dismantle their dwellings and shift to another place of their choice. They further contend that the construction of a new house on the new site would only be possible after monsoon. The contention of the PAFs has some force as the delayed payments leave very little time for them to shift when the monsoon is so close and they place reliance on rulings given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in WPC
1290/ 1990 B.D. Sharma vs. Union of India, WPC 319 of 1994 Narmada Bachao Andolan V/s Union of India, WPC 328 of 2002, Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Union of India and others and also the observation made by the Hon'ble High Court of M.P. in WP 3436 of 2001,Jai Singh and others V/s the State of M.P and others."
Rehabilitation entitlements to be provided a year in advance
The NWDTA also clearly states that irrigable lands and house-lots, compensation etc have to be paid a year in advance of submergence. This has been upheld in the Order of the Supreme Court dated 15th March 2005 which has stated that if this is not done, submergence will not be permitted.
Surveys wrong, no assessment of back-water impact, possibility of far larger submergence.
It may be noted that the NWDTA clearly states that houses falling under backwater and lands falling under FRL have to be compulsorily acquired. The Supreme Court Order of 15th of March 2005 has also strictly upheld the same.
However the GRA Report notes that even FRL (Full Reservoir Level) surveys at 262 meters are now, on the very eve of and impoundment and submergence being found wrong and being freshly undertaken. How wrong the surveys can be seen by the fact that several villages that were slated to be submerged this year were submerged last year itself.
"Last year it was noticed that at the reservoir level of 245 meters the afflux and back water level was at 252 meters affecting a few villages out of the 91 villages, getting affected between 245 and 262.13 meters.
During our visit to the affected villages another revealing situation came to our notice that the survey levels have not been properly taken and a few more villages (other than 91 villages) may also get affected at the Full Reservoir Level. Also in some villages where partial acquisition of houses has been done, the resurvey may necessitate acquisition of remaining houses as well since water spread may result in island formation, with no access to the outside world. This exercise may take some time as the process of land acquisition will have to be followed.
The GRA Report has also found that Back water surveys have not been worked out properly which may lead to many un-slated areas being submerged. The NBA anticipates that thousands of families will be additionally submerged by the backwaters - even computation for which has not begun. This includes kasbahs/towns like Handia and Nemawar. In this context, the Report states
"It has also come to our notice that the Back Water Level effects have not been worked out properly and in absence of this some areas may get affected during the monsoon depending on its severity." Very little additional electricity with the closure of the gates
The GRA also submitted on the basis of NHDC data that the additional power to be produced this year with the closure of the gate is only 200 million units. Since the annual requirement of consumers in Madhya Pradesh is 30,000 million units, this means that ISP will contribute only an additional 0.66% of the total requirement after the closure of the gates. In this context, the GRA has cautioned "....that the two sides of people's safety and power generation have to be balanced".
Threats to oustees and Contempt of Court
Despite a 18th May Court Order stating that coercive measures must not be used during the pendency of the petition, the NHDC continues to threaten and terrorize the villagers in the villages of Khandwa, Dewas and Harda. Last week, the District administration of Dewas broke 21 houses in Village Fatehgarh but were not able to proceed any further because of the strong and non-violent fight put up by the people of Fatehgarh and the surrounding villages and the support from the NBA, as well as
exposure of the above incident in the High Court. The NBA is filing a separate application in this regard in the High Court.
Hearing on the 29th of June 2005
After the submission of the Report of the GRA to the Honorable High Court, in which the decision on whether or not to grant the interim prayer of the Narmada Bachao Andolan to stay the closure of the dam gates will be taken.
Alok Agarwal Suresh Patidar
Press Note, 26th June 2005
Narmada Bachao Andolan
2, Sai Nagar, Mata Chowk, Khandwa, M.P.
Tel : 9425056802, 9425087827
E-mail : nobigdam@sancharnet.in
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