Bhopal, August 26
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused permission to the Narmada Hydro-Electric Development Corporation (NHDC) to raise the height of the Indira Sagar Dam to 262.13 m until proper rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of the project affected families (PAFs) of 91 villages has been carried out. A Division Bench of Chief Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Shantanu Kemkar also directed the NHDC and the state government that “no coercive steps shall be taken to evict the existing occupants of the 91 villages.”
This comes as a major victory for the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) that approached the high court following a state government notification asking the residents of the 91 villages to move out by April 30 as these villages were slated for submergence in June.
The high court had earlier directed the NHDC not to raise the height beyond 245.13 m till the court had examined, through the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA), the NHDC’s claim of having rehabilitated the residents of the 91 villages. The court observed in its latest order: “the facts and figures clearly show that the rehabilitation and resettlement measures are still going on. The compliance is nowhere near what the Narmada Award and the Supreme Court expect before submergence. The PAFs should be extended all R&R benefits at least six months before the date when they are required to vacate.”
The Bench has permitted the NHDC to raise the height up to 255 m so that it does not suffer enormous financial loss from reduction in the generation of additional electricity. This permission has been granted on the NHDC’s assurance that the 91 villages will not be affected at this height.
The Bench said: “The NHDC is directed to complete all R&R measures in regard to PAFs/oustees of the 91 villages on or before December 31 and issue a fresh notification requiring the existing residents to vacate before the onset of next monsoon (July 1, 2006).”
The court directed the Grievances Redressal Authority for Indira Sagar Project to hold regular sittings at least once a week “to receive, consider and dispose of the complaints and grievances of the PAFs and to ensure that by the end of this year, the R&R benefits are fully extended to them.”
It also asked the Narmada Control Authority (R&R sub-group) to involve itself in the monitoring of the R&R measures taken the by
NHDC.
