Gujarat govt authority letter "denying" Narmada water for irrigation to smart city area: Farmers protest move

Gujarat farmers of the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), a proposed Greenfield smart city towards the south of Ahmedabad, have strongly protested against the DSIR Authority, which has asked the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) to withdraw Narmada waters for agriculture to DSIR’s 28,203 hectares (ha) area.
After taking out a rally in the DSIR area under the banner of Bhal Bachao Samiti and Gujarat Khedut Samaj, the farmers’ representatives of 22 villages, which are to be affected, represented before the DSIR Authority to “withdraw” the letter it has written to SSNNL for decommanding the Narmada command area or face more protests across the region.
The DSIR Authority is a Gujarat government body, responsible for developing infrastructure for the proposed world-class smart city, which is declared to be meant for elite sections of society to live and do business. It is not known whether the SSNNL, which is responsible for the Narmada project, has accepted the proposal to decommand or rejected it.
In a statement, leaders of the protesting farmers – Bhagirathsinh Chudasma, Pradyumnasinh Chudasma, Jagabhai Sodhi, Ramdevsinh Chudasma, all belonging to the Bhal Bachao Andolan, and Sagar Rabari of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj – say that SSNNL should not go ahead with “decommanding” the 28,203 ha area.
“The SSNNL should immediately begin constructing Narmada canal distributaries, minor and sub-minor channels, as envisaged originally, on the entire 28,203 ha area, so that farmers are able to get Narmada waters. The work should begin within a fortnight’s time, lest our protests would begin”, the statement said.

Qualifying the “decision” to decommand the DSIR area as Gujarat government conspiracy to please the industrialists, the statement said, “Plans are being worked out to provide water to the industries, which would be set up in DSIR. Despite its assurances not to decommand the DSIR area, it has been dilly-dallying in the matter”, the statement said, adding, “The farmers are angry. They will not tolerate this betrayal any longer.”

Threatening to begin indefinite relay fast if the work for constructing Narmada canal network does not start, the statement said, “Already, farmers of other areas of Gujarat have declared support to DSIR farmers. They will join us.”
The Gujarat government has already handed over the 28,203 ha area of the DSIR for beginning the construction of urban infrastructure in the region. Under the town planning law, the farmers have been issued notices, that their 50 per cent of agricultural land would be taken away for developing urban facilities for the proposed smart city.
Notably, the Gujarat government wants to go ahead the smart city in the Dholera region despite the fact that the area is known to be flood prone, and would require massive reclamation at huge costs, something about which Dholera SIR’s feasibility report speaks about in some detail.

A detailed flood study is learnt to have been done out for the region, though it is not known whether it is being implemented.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog