Stopped en route to Sanchi, Vaiko's sit-in against Rajapakse continues

Bhopal: The dharna by over a thousand MDMK workers, led by party general secretary Vaiko, stopped on their way to Sanchi to protest against the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, continued tonight at Gadchicholi near Pandhurna on the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border.

Jabalpur range Inspector General V Madhu Kumar told PTI late night that neither Mr Vaiko nor any of the MDMK workers had been arrested, as the protest so far was peaceful.

Mr Rajapakse is scheduled to be in Sanchi for laying the foundation stone of the International Buddhist University on Friday. MDMK has opposed his visit, citing his government's atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.

Mr Kumar said police will take necessary action if MDMK protesters tried to proceed towards Bhopal/Sanchi.

Nanmaran, an MDMK leader, said the sit-in on the Nagpur-Chhindwara road continued. "Our leader will take call on further course of action tomorrow," he said.

Police have encircled the entire group of MDMK workers.

Earlier in the day, Mr Vaiko and MDMK workers, travelling in a convoy of 40 buses, headed for Sanchi, were stopped on Maharashtra-MP border, following which they staged a sit-in on the road.

Mr Vaiko alleged that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan misled him by promising to discuss the matter in Bhopal, but he had been now stopped on the border.

Talking to reporters at Nagpur, the MDMK leader had earlier lashed out at BJP government in Madhya Pradesh for inviting the Sri Lankan president, and the Centre for endorsing the visit, "despite knowing that Rajapakse is solely responsible for the genocide of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka."

Harda jal satyagraha: Police start forcibly evicting protesters

Harda: A jal satyagraha to demand a reduction of water level in the Indira Sagar Dam from 262 metres to 260 metres entered the 15th day today in Khardana village of Madhya Pradesh's Harda district. And now the police have begun cracking down on the protesters who have been sitting in neck-deep water.

The cops are evicting villagers from the protest site after authorities clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Tuesday, asking villagers to come out of water citing health concerns. Some ambulances have also reached the spot.

However, the police are facing problems in bringing these protesters out of water as they continue with their key demands that the water level of the dam should be brought down and affected people be rehabilitated. After the prohibitory orders were imposed in the area yesterday, the protesters had intensified their agitation and moved at least 200 metres away from the banks, into the water. 200 others are protesting outside.

The district authorities, meanwhile, say that the government has agreed to 14 of the protesters' 16 demands. Harda's Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manjusha Rai, Collector Sudam Khade and the Superintendent of Police are at the protest site and are taking stock of the situation.

Over a hundred policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed in the area.

The protests in Harda came to prominence after the state government gave into demands of villagers in nearby Khandwa who sat on a jal satyagraha for 17 days. Villagers in Harda allege that while the state government agreed to the demands of Khandwa protesters, it has not addressed their grievances yet. They also accuse the government of "double standards".

The state government has increased the water level in the Indira Sagar dam to 262 metres, which threatens to inundate 19 villages. Three villages are already submerged in water. In fact, the state government plans to further increase the water level in the dam by .02 metres.

"The Chief Minister has not announced anything for us, just for the protesters in Khandwa. He has agreed to bring down the water level there, and to rehabilitate the people affected. Until they will accept our demands we will not leave, the chief minister has done discrimination with us," said one of the protesters.

The protest in Khandwa's Ghogalgaon village ended on Monday after 17 days when Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan agreed to lower the water level in the Omkareshwar dam, one of the key demands of the 51 protesters, sitting in neck-deep water.

Both Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar dams are built across the Narmada river and are part of the Indira Sagar Project. The water protests were launched with the help of the Narmada Bachao Andolan to demand proper rehabilitation for land that the villagers have lost and a reduction in the water level of the dam.

The unusual protest was highlighted by the media and brought widespread attention to the villagers sitting in water. The photograph of the shriveled, bruised feet of a woman protester went viral on social networking sites.
 

Jal satyagraha: Central team likely to visit Khandwa today

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)

Jal satyagraha: Ministers meet Khandwa protesters

Bhopal: It has taken Madhya Pradesh government almost two weeks to take notice of 51 protesters who have spent almost a fortnight immersed in water in Khandwa district.

The protesters are demanding compensation and rehabilitation for villagers whose homes will be submerged under water if all the gates of the Omkareshwar dam are opened.

After the state government was criticized for allegedly ignoring their protest, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan yesterday deputed two of his ministers to hold talk with the protesters.

So today, Madhya Pradesh Industries Minister Kailash Vijayvergiya and Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah are meeting the protesters and Narmada Bachao Aandolan activists in Bhopal, hoping to resolve the issue.

The protesters say the government's decision to increase the water level of the dam on the Narmada river without rehabilitating people living in low lying villages is a violation of a Supreme Court order, which says villagers must be rehabilitated at least six months before such a move is implemented.

The protesters say they are determined to continue with their protest till their demands are met.

"Till the time water level comes down to 189 metres and as per court orders we get our five acre land, and labourers get Rs. 2.5 lakh, we will die but we will sit here," said one of them.

These men and women have spent 15 days submerged neck-deep in water. Their Jal Satyagraha began on August 25, but it is now beginning to tell on their health.

"In the water, fishes and crabs are biting us, our skin is affected and it is raining also," said a protester.

A local delegation of CPI(M) and also the Congress MP from the area, Arun Yadav, met these protesters yesterday. But the protesters are angry over the fact that no one from the ruling BJP government came to meet them for two weeks. They say the government is ignoring them.

"We are very angry... the government has turned a blind eye towards us. The government is deaf and dumb. All we want is the water level to be decreased, and that too by just one-and-a-half metre. And compensation for our land. Is it too much to ask for?" said a woman protester.

"Well, I think the government has no choice but to listen. And if it doesn't, there are going to be very serious consequences because there are some people in neck-deep water and some response has to be made, both on democratic ground and humanitarian ground. You can't let people just drown, and I think it's imperative that the government respond immediately to the demands of these people," said Aruna Roy, member of the National Advisory Council (NAC).

The water of the Omkareshwar dam has already risen to 190.5 meters and its effects can been seen in Ghogal, Kaamankheda and 30 other villages, where crops have been damaged.

The local authorities had visited the area and assured all help in their capacity, but the situation on the ground has not changed yet.

From: NDTV