27,147 Narmada dam affected families yet to be rehabilitated, NBA estimates ahead of Aug 8 Apex Court hearing

By A Representative
In a fresh estimate released by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which is leading its last-ditch battle for thousands of oustee, living in Madhya Pradesh, of the Sardar Sarovar dam across the state border in Gujarat, there are in 39,197 project-affected families (PAFs) of 193 villages, out of which just 12,050 are living in rehabilitation sites, while the rest, 27,147, are still living in their villages, and refused to move out.
Providing village-wise details, the details say, of the PAFs who haven't left their villages though might face submergence, there are 5,712 PAFs of Barwani tehsil, 8,077 PAFs of Kushki tehsil, 3,180 PAFs of Manavar tehsil, 3,843 PAFs of Thikri tehsil, 1,065 PAFs of Kasravad tehsil, 516 PAFs of Alirajpur tehsil, 29 PAFs of Maheshwar tehsil, and 4,725 PAFs of Dharampuri tehsil. These PAFs live in 181 villages.
Released ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing on August 8 seeking full and final rehabilitation of all 39,000 PAFs before Gujarat's politically sensitive dam's 30-odd gates are closed down to store waters up to the full reservoir level of 138.64 metres, the data show that except for Alirajpur tehsil, elsewhere rehabilitation is extremely tardy.
Meanwhile, as NBA leader Medha Patkar and her supporters' hunger strike, which entered the seventh day on Wednesday, continues in order to press upon the Government of India to withdraw its permission to close down the gates, as it would cause havoc in 193 villages, the protest is gathering increasing support from across the country.

In Delhi, those who sat on protest included well-known academic Yogendra Yadav of the Swarajya India, Dr Sunilam of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Alok Agrawal of the Aam Aadmi Party, Magsaysay award winning RTI activist and intellectual Aruna Roy, former Justice Rajinder Sachar, Annie Raja of the All-India Women's Federation, Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Kavita Srivastava of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, environmentalist Saumya Dutta, Faisal Khan of the Khdai Khitmatdar, among other.
In Vadodara, Gujarat, tens of activists observed one-day fast in support of Patkar and others, led by well-known environmentalist Rohit Prajapati of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. Others who joined in included villagers from south Saurashtra region, who fought their way to oust the proposed nuclear plant at Mithi Virdi. Those who sat on the fast were activists Jyotibhai Desai, Swati Desai, Lakhan Musafir, Anand Mazgaonkar, Harish Desai, Deepali Ghelani, Rita Choksi, Kamal Thakar, among others.
In a statement issued by activists at the end of the fast in Vadodara, they said, "for more than last 30 years there is a protest/movement going on for people’s rights in the project affected areas of the Narmada Valley."
It adds, "An imminent danger of displacement looms large on 40,000 people of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Even in the absence of proper plans for rehabilitation, the concerned authority decided to close the gates of Sardar Sarovar dam on July 31 this year. It is not understood what the government is trying to prove by doing so when there is no effective usage of its water right now."

"For timely redressal of the issues faced by the affected villages, Medha Patkar along with other activists and villagers is on indefinite fast in Chikhalda village of Madhya Pradesh", it said, adding, Vadodara activists, as part of their all-India protest, sat on "symbolic fast to express their solidarity with the affected people."
In a separate statement, NBA has sharply criticized the Madhya Pradesh government for providing "misleading" information to the state assembly by not mentioning the names of religious spots of backward classes, Dalits and Muslims that would be submerged in Kukshi tehsil. "This shows that the government is not serious in respecting the feelings of the common people", it said.
In Chikhalda village of Kukshi tehsil, where Patkar is continuing her hunger strike, the school children took out a rally in her support. The children carried placards saying that they do not want their school to go into submergence.
NBA claimed, the online petition floated by a former Indian Institute of Management-Kolkata professor asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and stop the "imminent disaster" by closing the gates of the dam, has received support from 29 countries across the world.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

Counterview

Search This Blog