Hundreds of tribals from various districts of Gujarat assembled at Satyagrah Chhavani in Gandhinagar Friday for the “Adivasi Satyagraha” against the Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project, demanding a white paper on the project. Even as the crowd gathered at the venue, Minister for Tribal Development Naresh Patel assured that “not even an inch of land owned by tribals” would be acquired for the project, during a discussion on the river-linking project in the Gujarat Assembly on Friday, claiming that the project originated during the Congress regime. Congress members staged a walkout from the assembly later in the day, demanding a written assurance that no land belonging to tribals would be acquired for the project. Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Jagdish Thakor, AICC incharge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma, Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel and former GPCC president Amit Chavda clashed with the police in Gandhinagar, trying to march towards the Vidhansabha and were temporarily detained. Addressing the tribals gathered in Gandhinagar, Congress MLA from Vansda, Anant Patel, said, “Today, we have assembled to not just protest against dams and reservoirs but to save the Adivasi culture, identiy and jal (water), jungle, jameen (land) of our people. We have come here to save the adivasi people by bringing in the PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and schedule 5 of the Constitution dealing with the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.” He had taken part in four protest meetings held earlier in the tribal belt of South Gujarat. President of the Chhota Udepur municipality, Sangram Rathva, said, “We want to tell the state government that we have pen and paper along with bows and arrows. Today, the tribal people are educated. We demand the rights given to us under schedule 5 of the Constitution.” Promising that 50 lakh Dalits will stand by the adivasis, independent MLA from Banaskantha Jignesh Mevani who is now with the Congress said, “The pillars of Gujarat Vidhansabha were built with the sweat and blood of the Dalits, OBCs and adivasis. Malls, shopping centres, buildings of secretariat were made by our forefathers and today you (state government) want to run your bulldozers on the chests of the tribal people.” Making a clarion call for the 2022 Assembly elections, Mevani said, “We raise a challenge to CM Bhupendra Patel that on not just 27 reserved seats, we will remove you from all 40 seats where the tribals are in majority. The election of 2022 will be between the adivasi people and the BJP.” Attacking the government over the Statue of Unity project in Kevadia, Congress working president Hardik Patel said, “Today, if Sardar Patel were alive, he would have never agreed to displace tribals from their homes in the name of a statue. These people might scare you with false cases like the ones they filed against me but our fight is not for today but for the coming generations.” Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor also said, “Many people tell me that Congress is not doing enough as opposition. I tell them that I don’t wish to give instigating speeches that will result in clashes. resulting in deaths. and later do politics over it. I want to do politics on the Constitution and the rights given to us.” Earlier, during discussion on budgetary demands in the Assembly, Minister Naresh Patel said, “The idea of Par-Tapi river-linking project can be traced back to 1980s during the Congress regime in the state. Its feasibility was prepared in 1995 and the scheme is not limited to one state.” Pointing that the state government has given 20,653 hectares to tribals in Dang district, the minister said, “Will we take away lands of tribals? Will we displace them? For the information of the House, we are not going to displace a single tribal. We will not acquire even an inch of land.” The minister argued that the announcement of Rs 500 crore made in the 2022-’23 state budget was not for the Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project but was to build check dams on rivers in South Gujarat. “ We want to change their lives. We do not want them to remain as labourers or see them continue to migrate (in search of work). Our aim is their stability and well-being,” Patel said. Once Patel finished his speech, Opposition members sought an opportunity from the Speaker Nimaben Acharya to raise questions. When the request was disallowed, the Congress MLAs gathered in the well of the House shouting slogans. “The Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project will displace 50,000 tribals in South Gujarat. We demanded a written assurance from the state government that no land of tribals will be acquired,” said Amit Chavda, Congress MLA, while addressing media persons after the walkout. During the discussion on the budget, several Congress MLAs including Leader of the Opposition Sukhram Rathva, Anand Chaudhary, Chandrikaben Bariya and Puna Gamit, cited the Par-Tapi-Narmada project and said the government was using drones to survey tribal areas. “The adivasis who will be affected by the Par-Tapi-Narmada project are participating in a rally today. They want to know if you are going to implement the project or not,” Rathva told the House demanding a white paper on the issue. “Give this in writing. Take a decision in the cabinet and send it to the Government of India and let the Centre say they are not going ahead with the project,” he added. During the Union budget, Sitharaman stated that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Par-Tapi-Narmada project was finalised and the Centre would provide support for implementation once a consensus was reached between beneficiary states. The Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project proposes to transfer river water from the surplus regions of the Western Ghats to the deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch. There is a proposal to construct seven dams and six powerhouses and this will affect 61 villages in Nashik of Maharashtra, Valsad, Navsari and Dang in Gujarat.
