M A I N   N E W S

SC to decide on Sardar Sarovar Dam today

New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Sardar Sarovar Dam tomorrow. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have filed their written arguments in the court. The NBA, in its arguments filed yesterday, contended that the rehabilitation of displaced people was yet to begin.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Government’s affidavit, work on providing civic amenities like water, electricity and roads was yet to be completed.

As per its own admission, it had paid cash compensation only to 1,000 families while the remaining 3,000 families had been paid only a part of the compensation.

Another important point of the NBA, seeking a stay against the ongoing construction of the dam, was that Gujarat had been able to utilise only 15 per cent of water available for generation of power.

As per the Supreme Court orders in 2000 and 2005, no construction of the dam was permitted unless all oustees were properly rehabilitated.

Madhya Pradesh, in its submissions, contended that the oustees had been substantially rehabilitated and there was no justification in stopping the work of raising the height of the dam from 110 metres to 121.92 metres.

Gujarat was also opposing the plea of interim stay against the ongoing construction of the dam.

According to Gujarat, the work of the dam, when completed, would provide drinking water to an additional 2,000 villages in drought-prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra.

The states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra would benefit in terms of availability of water for irrigation.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal would decide tomorrow whether the ongoing construction work of the Sardar Sarovar Dam should be stopped or not.

The Centre was in favour of continuing the construction work as it was a step in the direction of progress. — UNI