Villagers stand in water for weeks to protest dam policy

Farmers near the Narmada River call on the govt to stop flooding their lands.

Bhopal:  Some 100 women clad in their customary colorful saris sit under the shade of a tree singing a folk song to prepare families for death. Before them are the rising waters of the Narmada River, already flooding fields where some 60 people have been standing for three weeks to protest against a government policy to increase the water level of the nearby Omkareshwar dam.

The folk song, calling for mercy “when our life departs from our bodies,” can be heard from afar as one walks to the “Jal Satryagrah” or water protest.

The protest began on April 11 in Ghogalgaon village, Khandwa district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a day after state government decided to raise the water level from 189 to 191 meters.

As they stand in chest-deep water, villagers say they would rather face a watery grave than move away without adequate compensation when their homes and farmlands are submerged under the rising water.

Approximately 10,000 people in six villages will be adversely impacted by the water level increase, says Alok Agrawal, a leader of the protest.

Already, some protesters have begun to develop infections and fevers but they say they will not budge.

“We have no choice but to embrace a watery grave," says 50-year-old Sushila Bai, who was among the singers. In the water, protesters including Bai’s only son Mukesh Rao Martta, say they are prepared for death.

"He has been in the water along with the others since day one and is suffering from fever and other ailments including the gradual decaying of his skin,” Bai told ucanews.com. "What else can I do other than encourage him? Where will we go?" she asked.

Her family of seven makes its living through farming and the submergence of farmland proves a serious threat to their livelihood.

“This is our home and leaving it without adequate compensation for resettlement will make our lives miserable,” she said.

The government move "to raise the water level in the dam without any proper rehabilitation and resettlement has forced us to take this painful protest", Agrawal told ucanews.com last Sunday

Agrawal, a senior leader of Narmada Bachao Andolan (save Narmada movement, NBA), said protesters have planted poles in the river as supports to ensure they are not swept away by the gradually rising water.

According to the state government’s own of Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy framed in 2002, it is mandatory to provide at least two hectares of irrigated land to every displaced family even if they own less than two hectares of land. Those who own more than two hectares need to be compensated with the same amount of land.

“The government, in gross violation of its own policy, wanted the villagers to vacate their land and houses and the villagers are not ready for it," Agrawal said.

Ramesh Tirole, while standing rooted in the water, said the spot "was my fertile land, where I used to cultivate".

Now his 1.82 hectares of land is submerged in chest-deep water. “This government is so cruel that it did not even give me enough time to remove the hay from the field.”

He said he managed to harvest his wheat before the water submerged it. "Now where will we go," he asks in a choked voice adding: “ Come what may, I will not move from my land."

He said the government has offered him 200,000 rupees (about US$3,165) for taking away his land.

“It is better to die than accepting this paltry sum. I have six more members in my family and all have agreed to die in the water rather than accepting this miserable amount," he said as he nursed his swollen feet.

The dam was completed in 2006 to irrigate 132,500 hectares of agricultural land and generate 520 MW of hydroelectric power. The first time the reservoir was filled, in 2007, the government decided to maintain the water level at 189 meters.

“When we started the Satyagrah, the water level was just knee-deep but now it has reached chest-deep," says Sohanlal Patel, aged 60, another farmer who has also protested from the start.

Seventy-year-old Mauji Lal holds his walking stick as he thunders: “Brothers, this is an era of evil.” He blames the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for their plight.

The state government, however, is unmoved and defends its decision to raise the water level.

Minister of State for Narmada Valley Development Lal Singh Arya told ucanews.com that the rise in the water level would benefit farmers overall and urged the demonstrators to end their protest.

“The doors of the government are always open for discussion,” he added.

In 2012, the NBA organized a similar water protest in another area. After 17 days, the state government accepted the farmers’ demands and constituted a ministerial committee to look into their grievances.

A similar conclusion in Ghogalgaon appears unlikely.

In a press conference held at his residence, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the villagers and the NBA of “obstructing development ” and stressed that there will be “no compromise” regarding the water level change.

He also noted that most families in the area had agreed to the compensation with only a small fraction remaining in opposition.

Source: UCAN