Villagers protest against dam

They threatened to intensify their stir if the government failed to consider their demands.

Leaders of the villagers’ forum — Wanakbori Dam Affected Struggle Committee — Narpatisnh Solanki and Gunwantsinh Solanki said in a release that the villagers were demanding official acknowledgement of acquisition of their land by the government, due compensation and rehabilitation of the affected people.

They said it was ironical that the State government, despite constructing the dam over two decades, had yet to officially acknowledge the fact that thousands of acre of land had been affected because of the weir area.

The leaders alleged that officials of the Irrigation department had also attempted to stop the agitating farmers by letting the Kadana dam waters flow in the Mahi river. “Since crossing the river is a convenient short cut to reach the village — the other being 40-km long — the administration let the water in it thus attempting to block our way. However, the villagers struggled their way through the river and staged the rally”, claimed Solanki.

Sudhir Biniwale, Dhiru Mistry, Dipali Dhalani, Rohit Prajapati and B Thakorbhai Shah among others spoke at the site. The leaders said that detailed memoranda were also submitted to the Godhra and Kheda collectorates.