Medha welcomes panel

VADODARA, Feb 21: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar today expressed appreciation of the Supreme Court's consideration of it's pe...

VADODARA, Feb 21: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar today expressed appreciation of the Supreme Court’s consideration of it’s petition seeking rehabilitation of the oustees while deciding on the Sardar Sarovar Narmada project, but said it was unfair that the NBA’s principal petition for a complete review of the entire project had been telescoped into one issue.

On her way to the Narmada valley to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court ruling with the affected tribals, Patkar told Express Newsline that she welcomed the formation of the P D Desai Committee to look into the rehabilitation of the oustees, but found it strange that Gujarat had been simultaneously allowed to go ahead with the construction of the dam up to 85 metres.

“Hundreds of tribals will face submergence before they are resettled elsewhere”, she said. “We had presented a number of documents and reports stating that rehabilitation for even a 80.3 metre-dam was not complete and was far from satisfactory; this was the reason why work on the dam was stayed in 1995.”

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The very formation of the P D Desai Committee, though initiated by the Gujarat Government, vindicated “that all was not right even with the rehabilitation”, Patkar said.

Besides, the NBA leader said, rehabilitation and resettlement could not be viewed separately from the other pleas the Andolan had raised in the Supreme Court.

“The cost benefits and the environmental aspects are all related to human beings affected. Second, a large number of people affected by the canals of the project are yet to be considered project-affected by the government. "A number of relevant issues about the project, which were so painstakingly presented with dozens of reports, are yet to be considered,” she said.