Land gone to dam, SoU projects, villagers in Ekta Nagar stare at eviction

In 2017, the dam was raised to its maximum height at 163 m after the Union government nod soon after Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister. What followed was the ancillary entertainment infrastructure built around SoU – now the world’s tallest – which were inaugurated by Modi in October 2020, the renaming of Kevadia as Ekta Nagar and the setting up of the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Authority (SoUADTGA) that has complete control over the administration of 21 villages around the periphery of SoU.

SoUADTGA overrides the “strict implementation” of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which empowers the gram sabha of the scheduled areas to approve plans and programmes for social and economic development and protect natural resources.

“Will the elections change our fate? Our eviction is certain and no candidate from either the Congress or the BJP have visited us to even seek votes… None of them is raising the issue of our land or our future,” says a resident of Kevadia village, which has around 1,280 voters.

Madhu Tadvi (64) from Limdi village in the Chhota Udepur Lok Sabha constituency, which covers SoU, claims the statue – located 300 m away – “has become a source of anxiety”.

“We settled in this faliya (street) as labourers and gave our entire life to construct the Sardar Sarovar dam. Back then, we did not know that we would be treated as encroachers eventually when this (statue) comes up… We know that the government wishes to make the most of the prime land available around SoU. As soon as the polls end, we will be evicted,” says Madhu.

The Gujarat High Court in 2020 turned down the petition of Kevadia, Limdi, Vaghadia, Navagam, Gora and Kothi villages that had challenged the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) taking possession of their land — originally acquired by the Gujarat government in 1961 to construct the dam and its canal network — and subsequently transferred the same to the SSNNL and recently to the SoUADTGA.

While Kevadia has around 1,280 voters, Gora has 1,750, Vaghadia and Navagam 957 and Limdi has 600 voters.

Just before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, the SoUADTGA announced that the residents of the five villages facing eviction could lease 230 shops in the vicinity of SoU. This would be over and above the government compensation package that the beneficiaries could choose from in lieu of their land.
The shops, meant only for residents of Ekta Nagar (formerly Kevadia), Vaghadia, Navagam, Limdi and Gora were “an employment opportunity to the beneficiaries as well as to develop a market space for the needs of the visiting tourists”.

However, one of the 21 lease conditions that prohibits use of “inflammable” items has made the villagers rethink, as many of them have currently set up snack stalls, across the road from SoU. Most importantly, the condition for lease-allotment of the shops includes “handing over possession of the land to SSNNL” if the beneficiary availed any of the compensation packages from among those offered in 1992, 2013, 2015 and 2018 by the state government.

Leela Tadvi of Bar Falia in Limdi said, “The SoUADTGA has decided to charge a rent of Rs 500 per month for the shops that are going to be allotted for 20 years… it also sought one year’s rent in advance… But if we have to pick a government compensation package, which would mean relocation for rehabilitation, then why would we travel daily to run shops near the SoU?”

“We are poor and have no steady source of income. How will we set up decent businesses in these shops to attract tourists with no capital in hand? We can’t set up food stalls as inflammable items are prohibited and there are many food outlets in the area. At the end of the day, we will not even own the shops.”

A senior SoUADTGA official said, “There is definitely a need to set up a market in Ekta Nagar, given the rising number of tourists each year and local residents are the best persons to run businesses that do not have to be selling snacks alone. Property prices in Ekta Nagar are touching the sky as investors from outside are seeing it as a grand business opportunity because tourism will only grow in the future. The shops are strategically located and will benefit the villagers if they have vision and understanding… they will eventually have to hand over the land, as per the HC order, whether or not they accept the offer of the shops on lease.”

SoUADTGA is pitching the shops as “premium property” in the area that has seen a realty boom since 2018 with tourist footfall increasing every year. The SoU clocked in a footfall of 51 lakh tourists in 2023 – up from around 28 lakh in 2019 – claiming to have beaten the record of Statue of Liberty in New York.
The tourism circuit with over 35 attractions promises “upliftment of the entire tribal region in the 100 km radius”, paving the way for rapid commercialisation with skyscraper hotels, international food chain restaurants, tourists, a municipal corporation-like administrative body in the form of SOUADTGA and an upcoming airport in the vicinity.

Limdi village has the Safari Park while the statue is located in Navagam village. Vaghadia village has luxury hotels while Kevadia, facing the main road, has the sprawling Ekta Nagar railway station. Gora village hosts the Narmada Aarti at the ghats. The villages are predominantly belong to the tribal Tadvi community.
Congress candidate from Chhota Udepur, Sukhram Rathwa, in a public meeting in Vaghadia spoke about “tribal land being taken away” and assured the voters that his party is supports forest rights. He, however, did not mention SoU.

BJP candidate Jashu Rathva tells The Indian Express, “The development of SoU is an example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision… It is an example of how vision can transform the lives of tribals as many people have received employment because of tourism…”

Maintaining that he is yet to hold a public outreach campaign in the 21 villages that are now under SoUADTGA, Jashu adds: “No villager has come to me with any complaints about land or compensation as the state government has already settled these issues.”

A woman from Garudeshwar, who has set up a homestay and is awaiting the Rs 4.5-lakh financial assistance in lieu of her land, says: “Those who lost their land will complain but the fact is that the tourism circuit has generated business opportunities. The villages farther away from Ekta Nagar did not lose land and can also grab such opportunities”.

She claims to have earned close to Rs 40,000 in a month from her homestay by charging Rs 2,500 per night per couple or family. “Would this have been possible without the tourism circuit? The election campaign is lacklustre here but development is not,” she adds.