At ground zero of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadia, Gujarat, where the Narmada river enters the state from Madhya Pradesh amid tonnes of steel, cement and machinery, a team of engineers are raring to start construction—but they need a word from New Delhi.That word is expected to come tomorrow when the Narmada Council Authority decides whether to raise the dam height from the present 100 m to 110.64 m. Once the green signal comes, the Gujarat engineers say they can start work ‘‘within seconds.’’But there’s a catch.The Supreme Court has said this can be allowed only if every person affected by submergence in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh because of this additional 10 m height has been rehabilitated. While Gujarat has largely got its act together, Maharashtra says it has 177 families out of 3,464 left to rehabilitate. Madhya Pradesh says it’s also got the job done but there is evidence that much of it is merely on paper.The Indian Express travelled to the three states to find out how each stacks up on this subject:GUJARAT: Get, set, waiting to goThe stakes are highest here for a height of 110 means two working power plants at the foot of the dam and water for irrigation and drinking flowing all the way to parched Kutch and Saurashtra this summer.With the least number of oustees to rehabilitate 4,600), the state using a special agency, Sardar Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency (SSPA) and a liberal relief package, the job is done.The prospect of Maharashtra or Madhya Pradesh delaying schedule is unsettling for officials. ‘‘Give us (their) 177 families and we will rehabilitate them in six days,’’ says S Dagaur, commissioner, SSPA.MAHARASHTRA: Give us four more monthsOn paper, there are only 177 families out of 3113 families left to be rehabilitated but Minister of State for Rehabilitation and Revenue Ramraje Nimbalkar is honest to admit: ‘‘The actual figure is higher, it’s close to 500 but we will eventually rehabilitate them soon.’’Soon means four months, says the government. Secretary B S Baswan, social justice and empowerment, will report to the NCA tomorrow.MADHYA PRADESH: On paper vs on the ground‘‘We have done substantial and rational completion of rehabilitation,’’ says Rajnish Vaishya, Commissioner, Narmada Valley Development Agency. ‘‘And it is not as if I have not listed the problems in my report. It is upto the NCA to see it it means effective rehabilitation or not.’’ The state claims they have rehabilitated their share of the total 33,014 families.A tour of the Nimad area (on the two banks of Narmada, 150 km from Indore) and the tribal belt of Alirajpur shows that oustees affected by a height of 100 metres are still in their old homes.Reason: in rehabilitation sites, primary school, handpump, grain storage and health centre have been built but these are ghost buildings. ‘‘My biggest challenge is this — getting the software in place before people move in,’’ said Vaishya admitting it’s impossible for oustees to physically move there.One problem lies with the survey. There are instances where houses in the line of a rising river haven’t been counted.The state—the only one to do so—has made a distinction between temporary and permanent oustees bringing the numbers affected down by 6,000 families.There is no cultivable land available in Madhya Pradesh to resettle these families. The MP Government told the Supreme Court it had 4,000 hectares but in reality has only 700 hectares in Khargone and 2209 hectares in Dhar. In both these places, none of the oustees have gone because not as fertile as Nimad.When the oustees, refused to move, the MP government came up with a fairly generous cash package — take cash and buy land. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has made it its main campaign issue and is resisting any cash-for-land arrangements.(with inputs from Vijay Singh in Mumbai)
