Narmada dam-affected fisherfolk don't have fishing rights in Madhya Pradesh, admits Central official

Narmada official talking with fisherfolk in Maharashtra village

A senior Government of India official has admitted that the Madhya Pradesh government has not provided fishing rights to the fisherfolk-oustees of the Sardar Sarovar dam, living on the banks of Narmada. Narmada Control Authority's (NCA's) Afroz Ahmed was in Mararashtra's Bhusha village for an interaction with the state’s fisherfolk ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday bash at the dam on September 17.

Even as conceding to a similar longstanding demand of Maharashtra oustees, living next to the Narmada river, Ahmed, who is learnt to have been sent to mellow down their anger, on the rise following "failure" to provide any facilities to them as part of the rehabilitation packages to offered to the Narmada dam oustees, said, he takes "full responsibility" for providing fishing rights to 17 fishing cooperatives operating along Narmada.
The NCA official’s meeting with Maharashtra's fisherfolk followed the state government agreeing to form fisherfolk's cooperatives to the struggling oustees of Manibeli, Shelgada, Chichkhedi and Khardi villages, even as distributing them fishing nets to them. On hearing of the NCA official's visit, fisherfolk representatives from Madhya Pradesh villages joined in to raise their demands.
Ahmed, who was seen to answer all questions related to the fisherrfolks' problems following the Government of India nod to close down of the dam's gates, leading to the reservoir level reaching 138.68 metres, the full height, however, avoided any reply to queries on why 15,000 oustees have been kept out of the rehabilitation package. These oustees have been kept outside of the package because of "recalculation" of the backwater levels.

A senior Narmada official, talking to Counterview on condition of anonymity, said, the backwater levels have been recalculated at a "much lower level" than the earlier level because “a previous Madhya Pradesh government, hyped the backward levels to extract as huge Central funds in the name of oustees."

However, he insisted, the recalculation showed the Narmada's backwater waters wouldn't rise as much as earlier contemplated at the full reservoir level."

Meanwhile, a memorandum submitted to Ahmed, the anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), under whose auspices most of the fisherfolk had gathered, appreciated the NCA official for holding direct dialogue with them, even as objecting to Modi’s birthday bash on September 17 in order to “dedicate” the dam to the nation.

The memorandum said, “Even basic environmental preconditions in Maharashtra, a prerequisite for completing the dam, have not been fulfilled till date”.

The facts enumerated in the memorandum included the failure to treat the 20,000 hectares (ha) dam’s catchment area out of 67,000 ha, failure to plant trees in lieu of 40-50,000 destroyed because of submergence, and failure to develop 33 villages, whose land went into submergence.

Providing specific problems of villages, the memorandum said, there are no health facilities in Akkakua and Akrani villages; there is a failure to look into the complaints of rehabilitation of 950 families, which have not received either land or irrigation facilities; failure to survey 226 families of the Tapu village; forest rights to forest dwellers have not been provided; and there is incomplete construction of several rehabilitation colonies, including Kathardedigar, Mod and Kukalav.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Environmental concern? Global NGO leads campaign urging banks to cut ties with Odisha steel project

A decade after the withdrawal of the South Korean multinational POSCO from Odisha following large-scale protests, questions remain about whether India-based JSW Steel, which took over the project, can successfully revive the 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant and coal-fired power plant. POSCO initiated the project in 2005 but exited in 2017 due to sustained local opposition.

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Search This Blog