Gujarat Assembly condemns WCD

GANDHINAGAR, Sept 12: In a unanimous resolution, the Gujarat Assembly today denounced the proposed visit of the World Commission on Dams ...

GANDHINAGAR, Sept 12: In a unanimous resolution, the Gujarat Assembly today denounced the proposed visit of the World Commission on Dams WCD as 8220;unpardonable interference in the country8217;s as well as Gujarat8217;s internal affairs8221; with the intent of 8220;influencing the Supreme Court8221; hearing the Narmada dam case.

Accusing the commission of having a 8220;malafide intention8221; in planning a public hearing at Bhopal, the resolution said the commission8217;s only purpose was to create hurdles in the way of the Sardar Sarovar Project SSP.The resolution said that one of the commission members, Medha Patkar, was a party to the litigation.

The resolution was passed at a one-day special session called to discuss the WCD visit. Except the RJP, which described the session as 8220;an exercise in futility8221; and stayed away, members of the BJP, the Congress, the JD and the independents attended the session and criticised the commission. Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel informed the House that, following agovernment representation to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh had written to WCD Chairman Kader Asmal, asking him to cancel the visit and the proposed public hearing at Bhopal on September 21 and 22.

Patel said most of the 12 members of the WCD, including Medha Patkar and L C Jain, were known for their anti-dam views and hence the people of this country could not expect the commission to be impartial.He described the commission decision to canel the visit to the state was a 8220;moral victory of the people of Gujarat8221;.

There was at this juncture an interesting twist to the discussion when the Opposition Congress decided to raise the point that the same 8220;people of Gujarat8221; were fed up by the rising prices of essential commodities, especially edible oil. To this, the Chief Minister observed: 8220;The price rise will be controlled within 15 days, but it will remain a permanent phenomenon, if the Narmada project is not implemented in time. We will have to decidepriorities. I don8217;t want to politicise the issue at this juncture.8221;

Opposition leader Chaudhary said though his party had expressed its solidarity with the Government on the Narmada issue, the Centre would have done better if it had bothered to call a short week-long session to discuss burning issues that gripped the state like prices and the recent communal disturbances. Chaudhary also alleged that the World Bank was running a racket by funding so-called experts on environment under the garb of studying large dams in the Third World countries.