Dam: Doable and must be done

To scale the heights of Sardar Sarovar, keep your feet planted on facts

Passing on a controversial issue to the highest level is a sure sign of systemic weakness. Somebody has to be there to take the first blows, so the top level can figure out the answers in peace. Cranks with weak cases always first shoot off letters to the Prime Minister or the President. They get pro forma replies8212; nowadays, I suspect signed by a computer8212;and finally an 8220;official8221; reply from an Under Secretary.

I8217;ve been trying to figure out how the fellows who signed an order appointing the head of the current ruling party to a government position without due care8212;she was placed in an invidious position as a result of that8212;are yet to own up to their responsibility. In the middle of this, reports in the Press said the Review Committee on the Sardar Sarovar Project had passed on their responsibility to the Prime Minister.

As the Latin proverb asked: 8220;Who will guard the guards?8221;

Taking into account the crisis we have created with regard to the Sardar Sarovar Project, it is important not to let matters slide into greater chaos and work out some acceptable boundaries, within which decisions can be made at the top.

It is essential to come to some understanding of the facts. And then, the decisions can be made.

Two aspects are important. First, as we showed two weeks ago in this column, it has to be underlined that from the 8217;80s, the Sardar Sarovar Project is implemented on the foundation that construction is to proceed parri passu with rehabilitation. It cannot be a responsible argument that in India, in circa 2006, a person will be made homeless as a matter of intent or policy neglect.

Second, as we saw, delay is costly and unnecessary cost must be avoided. For example, one does not have to be a finance expert to say that the cost of delay in construction by a season can easily run into a thousand crore of rupees. In a VAT regime, this means a waste of public funds which come out of the pockets of the poor too. The logic of compound interest is merciless.

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But facts first. In the last few days, we heard that over 30,000 people are to be rehabilitated in the current phase of the Sardar Sarovar Project. The numbers would be valid if we were talking about the population that will have to be relocated when the dam is complete, which is many years away.

As of now, the dam height is to be inceased by 11 meters8212;from the existing 110 to 121 meters. The number of households which will be submerged in this phase was listed in what was called Section 4 under the revenue laws. To accept that this missed the figure by thousands in 2006 would involve stretching the imagination greatly.

But yes, there can be problems and there is a machinery set up by the highest court of the land to take care of them. There can be problems regarding major sons who have rights. There may be problems of people not receiving their compensation. But these are not issues that cannot be addressed. Since there is a basic list, even considering the Madhya Pradesh administration is lax, it should be possible for competent persons 8212; may be nominated by the Cabinet Secretary, helping the Judge nominated by the Supreme Court 8212; to go to the field, identify the persons and solve the problems. Ministers flying in and shaking hands with those who want to meet them will not solve the issue. As a Power and S038;T Minister, I would fly to Tehri every time Bahaguna went on a fast. These gestures are important in an open democracy and signal intentions at the top. Yet, by themselves, they are not enough to get one rehabilitated. For the necessary relocation, it is not necessary to lose a construction year. The necessary rehabilitation to avoid this is doable and must be done.

There will be other issues still. What about persons who lose a part of their land? Some will lose the homestead, but their land on the hill will be available. There is the famous drawdown problem, when your land is submerged only a part of the year.

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I don8217;t quite know what8217;s happening in Madhya Pradesh, but the tradition in Maharashtra and Gujarat was always that until submergence, one was allowed to till his land even if he got compensation. So for anyone visiting the area, the 8220;compensated persons8221; will be there and should be there. And despite the compensation, one cannot reasonably hope that they will be happy. I belong to a family which is yet to forget the pain of losing its home during the partition of India. These problems and sentiments have to be addressed.

It will be perfectly valid to set up a dialogue process with NGOs, and government officials to resolve these issues. The NGOs from Gujarat have themselves suggested this. The venerable Gujarat Vidyapith is there and its present chief Sudarshan Iyengar has a track record in Kutch.

There is a larger issue as well.

The Sardar Sarovar Project was a case of conflict resolution. There was a river valley tribunal. Large machineries were set up. A 500-page transparent plan was published. The civil society and the country8217;s highest institutions were involved. Rehabilitation was always a core issue. But it will be a larger setback to chip at all this. It is in hours of crisis that societies show their maturity in saving the best of the past and building on it for the future. The river valley is much too important to India8217;s future to grandstand in.

One must remember, if the current height appears unscalable, worse is yet to come. The real problem will actually emerge in the next phase, when the dam goes further up. That8217;s when tens of thousands will really be there to relocate. It is important to face these problems squarely and openly, only then the road to future will be smoother.