Khandwa: The 51 protesters in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district
have been sitting in water for 17 days now hoping to draw attention to
their displacement by a big dam. And the government has finally taken notice of their protest; a Central team including two Secretary-level officials from the Power Ministry is likely to arrive at the protest site today, sources said.
The Madhya Pradesh government, which was criticised for allegedly ignoring their protest, too reached out to the protesters. Deputed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ministers Kailash Vijaywargia and Vijay Shah visited village Ghogalgaon on Saturday and met the agitators assuring them of an early decision to protect their rights.
"I with my folded hands request all you protesters to suspend your Jal Satyagraha,I am not asking you to end it. I will publish my report to the Chief Minister and I am sure he will very soon take the right decision," Mr Vijaywargia told protesters.
Some meetings took place yesterday in Bhopal too but the protesters say they haven't got any assurances of rehabilitation yet and their protest in water for land, carries on.
"It was only after the media coverage and after people from across India started responding to our protest that they were ordered to visit us and talk to us, but now again the same thing is happening - delay - so that the movement is broken up and the people's wills are broken and then basically they will not have to rehabilitate anybody," Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Chittaroopa Palit, who is participating in the protest, said.
The protesters, who have rejected Chief Minister's appeal to end their stir, said there was no question of giving up till their demands are met.
"They are saying that we should get up and that they will consider whether they should reduce the water level and rehabilitate the people...that is completely unacceptable," Ms Palit said, alleging that the government was delaying the decision "so that the movement is broken up, people's will is broken and nobody is rehabilitated".
The Jal Satyagraha, under the aegis of Narmada Bachao Andolan, was launched to demand proper rehabilitation and reduction in the water level of dam at Indira Sagar Project on river Narmada.
The protesters, who have developed rashes with their skin peeling off after staying submerged for so long, alleged that the water was being released despite the authorities knowing that they will drown if the water level rises any further.
"My family has seven acres of farmland and it supports our family of 20-25 people. But it is submerged in the water, and our life will become useless and we will have no money," said a farmer on protest.
Demanding land for land, the dam-affected persons have also pointed out that as per the Supreme Court directives, the rehabilitation work should have been completed at least six months before the land in their village got submerged.
Similar protests have been going on since the last twelve days at Barkhalia in Khandwa district and Khardana in Harda district as the land in these villages also got submerged due to rise in the water level at Omkareshwar Dam.
Both Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar hydropower projects were built on river Narmada.
(With inputs from PTI)
