KEVADIA COLONY, Jan 1: A frail, clear-eyed woman questioned some tribals about the gains in relinquishing their precious land to an illusion. Her name that day was Medha Patkar. Today, she is better known as the leader of Narmada Bachao Andolan, a virtual revolution against big dams. Ten years later, when they celebrated, in agitation, right through the afternoon and midnight of December 31, 1997, they knew the battle was half won. From the vicissitudes of time and nature to a relentless multi-faceted political onslaught, the Narmada Bachao Andolan withstood all. And three years ago, came a Supreme Court stay order on work on the contentious Sardar Sarovar Project till all issues were resolved. Celebrations at Kevadia Colony marked three years of stalemate on the SSP, but more significantly signalled the joining of forces against as many as 19 medium and big projects across the Narmada Valley in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Scores of tribals affected by dams in the three states trundled down in jeeps and buses on to the helipad opposite the SSP resettlement office, gave fiery speeches and shared memories of struggle together as also sang and danced amidst beating of dhols and chanting of slogans.They vowed, as the sun set on 1997, to fight till work on all the 19 dams was halted. Patkar, popularly called didi, spoke in Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi, rallying the masses with slogans like ``Hindi, Marathi ya Gujarati, Ladnewale ek jaati (Hind, Marathi or Gujarati, all fighters are one''. She spoke about the movement taking a larger perspective where the struggle should say ``Jungle, jamin, paani hamara hai.''She exhorted them not to be put down by opportunistic anti-poor political forces, and reminded them ``How we fought Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel in Gujarat and Sunderlal Patwa in Madhya Pradesh; many more came and would come but the Andolan will remain.''Amidst a spirited applause, another slogan rent the air : ``Shaashanwalo sunlo aaj; hamare gaon me hamara raaj (Rulers of the land listen, in our villages, we rule''.In a tacit reply to ``government propaganda'' that Kutch and Saurashtra were thirsting for Narmada waters, Patkar said, ``We have to take the message to Kutch and Saurashtra that they would never get SSP waters, and if at all they do, it would be when it would have been very late.'' They should be made to realise that SSP was only a political tool in the hands of scheming parties, she asserted.After the speech, Patkar told this correspondent that the NBA was no longer against only Sardar Sarovar Project, but had spread through the length and breadth of the Narmada Valley.
