Oustee agitation in Madhya Pradesh 'forced' Gujarat Govt to open Narmada dam gates

By A Representative
While the Gujarat government has been "forced" to open 25 gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam in order to save the lives of thousands of dam oustees following a Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) agitation at Rajghat, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh, NBA in a statement said, the drowning of the affected villages continues unabated following incessant rains.
As a result of the agitation, NBA claimed, the district collector, Badwani, reached the spot and was told that the dam's gates be urgently opened lest there would be massive drowning. On his assurance, the satyagraha was postponed, after which 25 gates were opened, and 1 lakh cusecs of water was released from the dam.

Even when the agitation was on, NBA said, news started pouring in that rising Narmada waters were submerging the lower settlements of Nisarpur and reaching even big houses and shops of several of the nearby villages, including Chhota Badda,Pichodi, Bagud, Piplud, Chhota Badda, Kadmal, Akek and so on. The rehabilitation of these villages, and more, remains incomplete. Things are no different in Maharashtra, it added.
NBA said, all this is happening because thousands of families in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh continue to stay put in their original villages because of failure to develop rehabilitation sites for the oustees.

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