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from The Week, Aug 29, 1999
Controversy: People of Pathrad and surrounding villages are
angry the country's first private hydro-power project
by V. Radhika
Any official associated with the Maheshwar dam is barred from entering the
village." This warning splashed across a board at the entrance of Pathrad
village reflects the defiant mood of its residents. It also tells the story
of the misery that India's first-ever privatised hydro-power project, the
Shri Maheshwar project, will cause. Pathrad is one of the first villages
that will be submerged by the dam being built on the Narmada river.
According to NBA leader Medha Patkar (right), though 40 per cent of people
in Nimad are landless, the movement against Maheshwar dam enjoys popular
support. This answers the criticism that NBA has support of only rich
farmers.
Located two kilometres upstream from Mandleshwar town in the fertile Nimad
region of Madhya Pradesh, the Maheshwar dam is one of the 30 big dams
proposed on the Narmada. The government has contracted the 400-MW project
to textile giant S. Kumars, and it is expected to be complete in 2003, at a
cost of Rs 1,910 crore.
The project was awarded to S. Kumars in 1991, and a conditional
environmental clearance was granted in 1994. In 1998, preliminary contracts
were signed with the German power utilities Bayenwerk AG and Vernigte
Elektrizitatswerke Westfalen (VEW) for participation in the project.
The Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (MPEB) claims that the project is
specially designed to increase power production during peak requirement
period. Besides, it will be the main power supplier for western Madhya
Pradesh after Chhatisgarh becomes a separate state.
The farmers in fertile Nimad, however, are not ready to move out unless
they get equally fertile land elsewhere. "We are supposed to be allotted
land in Samraj village, but it's a rocky terrain with no water," says
Bharat Singh Patidar, who owns 25 acres. "Here we grow cotton, soyabean,
maize, chili and even sugarcane."
This is a common refrain in most houses. Khargone District Magistrate
Bhupal Singh maintains that there is enough land in the district to be
allotted to project oustees. But, by his own admission, most of the land
will have to be carved out from excess grazing lands of the 1,200 villages
in this district. "But then, grazing lands are for grazing and that is why
they are not cultivated," points out Mansa Ram Bhai, a farmer.
Those whose lands will be 'partially submerged' are also upset. One of
them, Mahadev Bhai, says: "According to dam authorities only 36 decimals of
my field will be submerged and therefore I can get compensation only for
that. Actually the entire field will be affected."
According to S. Kumars, 13 villages will be submerged fully and 9
partially. The company says that part of the population of the 9 villages
will be relocated. The government estimates that 61 villages will be
affected; 21 will be partially or totally submerged and agricultural land
will be submerged in the rest.
The project would also rob boatmen, fishermen and sand quarriers of their
livelihood. "I cannot be anything else but a boatman," says Madan Kewat, a
boatman who recently rowed to Pathrad to welcome the 'Rally for the Valley'
led by writer Arundhati Roy. "Our elders have taught us to live on the
river. That is the only thing we know."
Mukul Kasliwal, managing director of S. Kumars, told The Week that sand
quarriers, fishermen and boatmen living in the affected villages will be
rehabilitated and given grants of Rs 40,000 a head. Outsiders who depend on
the river for survival are, however, out of this bracket.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which has been spearheading the
resistance against the 30 big dams on the Narmada, does not consider
compensation the central issue. "We start with questioning the
inevitability of displacement and examining whether all alternatives have
been explored," says NBA leader Medha Patkar.
Rich farmers, particularly Patidars from Nimad, are the most vocal
opponents of the Maheshwar dam and they have rallied behind the NBA.
Originally from Gujarat, the Patidars had worked as share-croppers before
they became landlords. Patkar, however, asserts that the NBA enjoys the
support of other sections as well. "Many full-time workers in the NBA come
from landless families," she says. "In Nimad, 40 per cent of the people are
landless, and we enjoy the support of the village community."
Mobilisation against the project in the last two years has resulted in the
German government suspending its decision to give Export Credit Guarantee
for the project. It also resulted in the backing out of Bayenwirk and VEW
from the project.
There is now talk that Siemens, which is supplying equipment worth $200
million, is lobbying with the German government to rescind the suspension.
Some ardent supporters of the NBA have accepted compensation packages
offered by the S. Kumars. Dhanna Lal of Behgaon village, for instance, has
received fifty per cent compensation for his four-acre field.
Isn't there a contradiction here since the NBA is advocating refusal of
compensation? Lal does not think so. "It is because of the NBA that we are
getting such a high compensation (Rs 130,000 an acre of irrigated land).
Moreover, our land is in the low-lying areas and gets flooded every year,
dam or no dam," says Lal. "The administration never gave us land. Now, when
someone is paying us money to move, why should not we accept it? That does
not mean we should not support the NBA!"
The landless peasants have also accepted compensation. "If land is offered
to the landless we certainly welcome it," says Patkar. "But this land is
not offered with a view to bringing about land reforms, but to make them
vacate the villages. That's cheating."
The sustained opposition to the dam made the MP government stop the work
last year. A task force including NBA representatives was constituted to
study Narmada Valley development options. Its report observed that the cost
of power could be around Rs 5.24 a unit, not Rs 3.50 as the authorities had
claimed.
A cause for concern, says Chittaroopa Palit of the NBA, is that the state
electricity board will have to purchase all the power produced by the
project. Electricity produced by the board costs only Rs 1.67 a unit. The
state government has, however, set aside the task force report.Ê As the
struggle goes on, villagers live in uncertainty, and all work has come to a
halt. Even minor repair works are not undertaken. Khuman Singh Patel's
house has not been plastered. "What is the point of spending money when the
house may go under water?" he asks.There is no frustration in his voice,
only resolve to stall the 'damned' project. |