Skip to main content

Narmada: Madhya Pradesh 'agrees' 178 villages face submergence, causing tremors


By A Representative
The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has declared that the number of affected villages because of the Narmada dam is 178, suggesting that the data earlier released in 2017 have been set aside. The previous BJP government had “not taken into account” as many as 76 villages, some of whom are facing submergence, as the dam’s water levels rise.
“About 6,000 families live in these villages, yet the then state government did not make public the names of these villages”, said the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), currently campaigning against the Gujarat government decision to keep all the gates of the dam closed to take the water levels to the full reservoir level, 139 metres.
“Lakhs of trees and plants have been submerged”, NBA said in a statement, adding, “If there are on an average 1,000 trees in each village, then 250,000 trees in 178 villages have either drowned or are about to drown.”

Meanwhile, reports say, geological stir has “intensified” in the region because of waterlogging in the dam and its upstream areas. Earthquake tremors were first noticed on August 9 in Bhamori village of Barwani district, which have spread to other villages now – Jholpipri (Anjar), Sakad, Haribar, Umaria, Sivai, Bilwa Road, Mandil, Surana, Bandi and Devjhiri and villages. “It is a danger signal for the safety of the entire Narmada Valley”, NBA said.
Meanwhile, in Pichodi, 35 houses got drowned, but people are still there. As many as 110 families are living in Jangarwa, which has turned into an island. It its road connectivity has been lost. Waters have entered several other villages – Avalda, Bhavati, Sodul, Morkatta, Bijasan, Amalali, Rajghat, Bhilkheda, Nandgaon, Pendra, Jamda, Chhoti Kasrawad, Kundia, Dehadla, Bagood, Piplud, Aavali, Datwara, Mohipura, Segwa, Ekk, Labara, Semalda, Kavathi and Perkhad. The problem of drinking water is rampant, power has been cut off.



Comments

TRENDING

Can free‑living Indian street dogs teach us about how to care for pet dogs?

By Daniel Ramp, Kapil Vishwas Patwardhan, Rosalie Chapple  We give our pet dogs shelter, veterinary care, affection, training and play. We decide when they eat, where they sleep, when they go outside, who they meet, and how they move through the world.

100,000 dead, 4 million displaced: Myanmar's post-coup war grinds on as the junta loses ground

By Nava Thakuria*  At least 100,000 people, including civilians, have been killed in Myanmar's conflicts since the military coup of 1 February 2021, according to the UN. Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave the figure to the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 October 2026. She called President Min Aung Hlaing a tyrant who still deliberately attacks civilians to force them into submission.

Delhi’s waste-to-energy plants emit 3.5 times more carbon than coal, new report reveals

Counterview News  Centre for Financial Accountability exposes the “plastic paradox” and calls for an end to climate finance for incineration, urging a shift to genuine zero-waste systems *** A damning new report by the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and the National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ) has exposed the severe climate cost of waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration in India. Titled “The Climate Cost of Burning Waste,” the study reveals that Delhi’s WTE plants produce electricity that is significantly more carbon-intensive than coal, challenging the government’s classification of these facilities as "renewable" energy sources.