Dam oustees damned again

"We lost everything once and have just got our lives together again. Now we don’t want to be pushed away from here all over again. What is the guarantee we’ll get land and work again in the new settlement? What is the guarantee we won’t be cheated again?” asks Bhadiyabhai Vaswa, a school teacher.

Bhadiyabhai, who was displaced by the Ukai dam project, claimed the villagers were cheated of their rightful compensation. "Those among us who owned 60 acres of land in our original villages were given a measly 12 acres at Naibaswat, a settlement site for the Ukai project-affected," he alleges.

The Ukai project affected people were promised free electricity, water for irrigation and drinking, agricultural implements and roads leading to every village. All literate tribal youths were promised jobs as well, but none of these were fulfilled, he claims.

Nearly 40 per cent of the youth in his village have migrated to work as labourers in Bardoli, Kamrej, Surat and Navsari, the areas which benefited from the project, says Ramsinh, another Ukai dam oustee. "It is our biggest tragedy that we have to seek work as casual labourers in the areas that prospered at our expense," he adds. Further, the villagers say the government did not inform them about the Naniborsan project. "Though government officers came to survey the area, we came to know of the dam from other sources," says a former taluka panchayat member.

But this time, they are determined not to be "taken in" by the promises. "When we were displaced from our ancestral villages, our parents were illiterates. We were promised a heaven in the new place, but got nothing," says Induben, who works with an NGO, Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre.

The villagers have been making representations to the government and various political parties urging them to oppose the dam. However, the Irrigation department has decided to go ahead with the project, says Purshottambhai.

The procedures for acquisition of land for public purposes, as laid down in the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, has been flouted, claims Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre director J Stanny. The Government first has to issue a statement in the Government gazette, and then advertise it in two local dailies before it can undertake a survey. Only after a seven-day notice period, can people submit their objections in writing. After the secretary has made a declaration, the affected can lay claim to compensation. None of these regulations were honoured, he alleges.