Par-Tapi-Narmada project: Tribals protest at Dharampur, BJP calls it a flop show

Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that police were deployed at the entry and exit points of the town and tribals were stopped from reaching the spot.

Speaking at the public meeting, Tribal leader and Vansda Congress MLA Anant Patel criticised Valsad BJP MP Dhaval Patel. He claimed that Dhaval Patel, also a tribal leader, never raised the issue in Parliament.

“Showing a letter from the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, Dhaval Patel claimed that I am misleading people. The letter clearly states that the dam project will not be carried out at the primary stage (not in the priority list). This means that there is a possibility that the project may come up in the secondary stage,” the Congress leader claimed.

“Our demand is simple. The government should issue a white paper stating that the project will not be taken up. It will end our protests,” he said, adding that he will raise the issue during the upcoming Assembly session starting September 8.

State Congress president Amit Chavda alleged that the Centre was cheating innocent tribals by taking away their forest and lands by misguiding them.

All-India Adivasi Congress chairman and Congress MLA from Jhambua in Madhya Pradesh Vikrant Bhuria urged the tribals to get ready for a long battle. “They will detain and arrest our brothers and sisters and put them in jail. We have to be ready for it,” Bhuria said and added that the tribals of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states would support their struggle.

The Congress leader Aslam Cyclewala of Surat city, said, “State police had been deputed on the entry and exit routes of Dharampur town and they are stopping tribals from attending the rally and public meeting. This shows that the government is afraid.”

Dharampur Tribal leader Kamlesh Patel said that several tribals lost their lands and livelihood after the construction of Madhuban dam of Valsad, Ukai Dam of Tapi district and the Narmada dam.

The Congress leaders later held a rally and submitted a memorandum to the district collector demanding a white paper on the issue.

Meanwhile, speaking to media persons, BJP MP Dhaval Patel called the protest a “flop show”. Citing the Union Jal Shakti Ministry letter which was released to the media a day earlier by him, Dhaval Patel said that the majority of tribal people gave the meeting a miss.

“The tribal community kept their faith in me. It has proved that the tribal people won’t believe the propaganda spread by Anant Patel,” the BJP MP said.

He also claimed that the Leader of the Opposition in Gujarat Assembly Tushar Chaudhary did not attend the event as he knows that it is only meant to save the political career of Anant Patel.

Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project proposes to transfer river water from the surplus regions of the Western Ghats to the deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch. It proposes to link three rivers — Par, originating from Nashik in Maharashtra and flowing through Valsad, Tapi from Saputara that flows through Maharashtra and Surat in Gujarat, and Narmada originating in Madhya Pradesh and flowing through Maharashtra and Bharuch and Narmada districts in Gujarat.

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