Can Sardar Sarovar Height be Raised in Violation of Law?

Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 2:43 PM

Are 'Vision of Inclusive Development' Truthful ?

*NDA Government must hear the People's Organisation from Narmada Valley, before decision on SSP

Mumbai / New Delhi, June 12, 2014:: (Punjab Screen Bureau): 

Today seems to be critical day for Narmada. When Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has expressed his commitment to take the country forward with his 'Vision of Inclusive Development', it is an absolutely obnoxious contrast that the new government has not given us any hearing nor has it taken any time nor made any attempt to know the ground reality, before deciding to go forward with Sardar sarovar Dam construction to its final height.

Image Courtesy: Kafila

Sardar Sarovar Dam at its present height itself has 2 lakh people in its affected region, so if the height is raised by installing 17 meters high gates, the densly populated villages in Nimad Madhya Pradesh with houses, farms, shops, temples, mosques, standing crops etc. will face a watery grave. Adivasi villages in the hills in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat habitating hundreds of families are also to be further submergedd. Altogether not less than 2.5 lakh people, farmer, fishworkers, potters, shopkeepers will face a deluge and devastation, without rehabilitation, if the height is raised from 122 meters to 139 meters!

Will NDA Government permit such an injustice to be caused in violation of Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award as well as Supreme Court judgements? Anandiben 

Image Courtesy:The Tribune

Patel, CM, Gujarat has announced that today, in the NCA meeting, “verbal permission” will be granted and then the formalities will be completed within a week's time. She has claimed that no party state has any objection to raising the height. This is obviously neither true nor transparent. None of the concerned new ministers, Uma Bhartiji, Paraksh Javadekarji or Thavarchand Gehlot have looked into all the reports, detailed data as well as the ground level situation. While two of them belong to Madhya Pradesh and one to Maharashtra. Will it be wrong to expect that they, give us a hearing and also assess the reality themselves. Their visit to the valley could go a long way. 

How could the government deal with such a grave situation and go ahead just because Mr. Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister. May we remind all the Ministries that they have to first appraise the social and environmental impacts and judge serious non-compliance themselves. The latest news is that Mrs. Patel, CM has reached the dam site in Gujarat as if the decision is already taken....what a political expediency and breach of every principle of democracy and justice.

Medha Patkar,  Meera,  Nurji Padvi,  Kailash Awasya,  Bhagirath

EVMs could have been tampered

Thu, May 15, 2014 at 11:09 PM

An address tag used on the Control Unit found on road

Dear Friends,

We wish to bring a shocking incident to your notice. An address tag used on the Control Unit used at Polling Station No.29 at Shivajinagar / Mankhurd assembly segment of the Mumbai North East Parliamentary constituency was found on the road at Shivajinagar today. This address tag is an important identifier of the machine used on the day of polling and the tag being found on the road indicates that the machine could have been tampered with before being transported to the place of storage after the elections. We have already filed a complaint with the Returning Officer and urged him not to start counting in this booth till thorough investigation is done in this matter.  A copy of our complaint and the picture of the tag is being sent to you.

Regards,

Medha Patkar
Candidate of AAP from Mumbai North East

(Contact: Sanjay M G :- 9869984803; Suniti S R :- 9423571784)

With Tremendous Response from Voters

Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 10:08 PM

Campaign Ends on High Note

Vows to continue challenging the Modi-fied Politics and Expose the Corruption of NCP

Photo Courtesy: I love India

As the campaign for the 16th Lok Sabha draws to a closure today, the campaign witnessed tremendous response from wide range of people in the Mumbai North East constituency. This response and the large number

of issues emerging is also because of the failure of Corporator, MLAs and MP in discharging their duties as elected representatives. None of them taken any steps to curb the fundamental corruption involved in the projects. There has not been any attempt to policy making focussing amenities and housing. People’s response to our campaign was because of we raising these issues in the past years and because of their faith in our continuous work on those issues.

Out of my nearly 40 years of work, the 17 years I worked in Mumbai has given me an inside out knowledge about the basic issues of the constituency. This election is important for us, as we seek larger representation of people in decision making and to continue raise those issue with more strength and vigour. Hence we make a pledge to

implement all national level commitments by Aam Aadmi Party in its Manifesto and in the Mumbai Manifesto. Further, we issue a Mumbai North East specific prime issues pledging that we will leave no stone unturned to fulfil those. We also reiterate that all our efforts will be participatory, transparent and accountable, involving the people of the constituency across the caste-class-creed-gender differences, and political ideologies.

Hence we appeal to the voters to join us in these efforts, with their strengths and commitment, to bring in change and make our city corruption free. We will achieve this together with participation of people from all walks of life, contribution of professional skills and inputs from experts.

Modi’s lies and threat to not just secular fabric, but even dalits, adivasis and downtrodden

In a rally addressed by Modi in Mumbai yesterday he said that "Maharshtra would get electricity worth Rs 400 crores for free if the project (Sardar Sarovar Narmada project) was completed." The blatant lie repeated for the second time in this election season is another attempt t to mislead the people. Maharashtra, which has also

sacrificed a few thousands crores of revenue, by submergence of 33 hilly adivasi villages, will lose 9500 ha of land, parts of it are forests, in the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Additionally she spends Rs.3000 crores in proportion to the 27% of power from the project. SSP is an interstate project, with financial commitment by each of the party states. How can then the power be free to Maharashtra?

While Modi builds his campaign on lies and twisted facts, he poses a serious threat to the secular fabric of the country. By his silence isn’t Modi supporting Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) president Pravin Togadia’s communal venom in Bhavnagar by saying “evict Muslims from Hindu areas”?

His outlook towards the dalits and socially marginalised is evident from his reported statement sometime earlier where he, observed while releasing his book Samajik Samrasata, that dalits were like mentally retarded children. What an irony, somebody who does not respect the dalits and marginalised writes a book with its title Samajik Samrasata (Social Equity)!

Last year, The Gujarat High Court ordered the Gujarat government to strictly adhere to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of) Forest Rights Act, 2006, and the rules framed thereafter under this central Act. The order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by a group of NGOs, which said the state

government was violating the provisions of the Act in deciding the claims of tribals and had arbitrarily rejected more than one lakh such claims.

It will be a figment imagination, generated by aggressive advertisement that Modi with a proved track record for being anti poor, anti dalit, anti adivasi and minorities could lead the country which is built on the foundations of secularism, tolerance and respect to each other.

We will stand by dalits, who apart from asserting their identity and dignity, faces the challenge of getting the basic rights, as upheld in the Constitution, as envisioned by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. The positive discrimination and reservation will be implemented only when they stand united.

If Modi around, can NCP be far behind?

We will challenge the corrupt party NCP, who are involved in scams worth thousands of crores. Some of them include, irrigation scam, Gosikhurd canal scam, sugar factory scam, even the former Member of Parliament seem to have contributed to corrupt practices in using the MPLAD funds. By not raising the corruption issues in this Constituency, such as allotment of MHADA land, rehabilitation of slum dwellers and in infrastructure projects, he has permitted the corrupt practices.

He cannot shrug the responsibility of his inability to curb corruption, failure to address the fundamental issues of the constituency and not being around for the people when the people needed him most.

We will launch enquiries into all those allegations of corruption once the elections are over.

We appeal to all voters of the Constituency to come out in large numbers on the voting day, cast their vote and be a part of the democratic process. We appeal to the voters to cast their vote in favour of honesty, accountability and good governance and against corruption, communalism and injustice.

Medha Patkar

*Narmada Bachao Andolan*,

*National Alliance of People’s Movements*

Jobat Satyagrah: Fresh surveys from 20th January

Sat, Jan 11, 2014 at 5:33 PM

Alirajpur Collector withdraws Sec 151 cases against 40 adivasi oustees

Intense dialogue with Collector, SP, Addl. SP for 4 hours: Offer of Land and house plots, fishing rights, fresh surveys from 20^th January

 Jail Bharo Andolan in February, if promises not kept

New Delhi: 10^th January, 2014: (Punjab Screen Bureau): 

Surrounded and questioned by hundreds of adivasis for a second time yesterday, at the gates of the Collectorate, Alirajpur, the District Collector, Mr. N.P. Deheriya announced that he would immediately withdraw the charges of Sec 151, 107 and 116 (3) of Cr.P.C filed against 40 adivasis (including many elderly and 6 women) on the alleged and completely unsustainable ground of ‘breach of peace’ at the site of the Zameen Hak Satyagraha, Jobat.

Joined by Mr. Akhilesh Jha, SP and Mr. Saitaram Sastiya, Addl. S.P, the officials finally conceded that there was no disturbance to the peace by the oustees at Jobat. As the end of 4 hours long debate and dialogue with the Collector, the oustees and Medha Patkar convinced him that the occupation of government land at Jobat Farm was not in any way to disturb the peace of the locality, but was a measure undertaken, as a last resort, to assert the right to land and rehabilitation, which has been seriously affected, since more than a decade, when they have been facing the severe impacts of submergence. 

The following commitments were made by the Collector at the end of the dialogue:

Cases of preventive detention under Sec. 151 would be immediately withdrawn.

·        The State would facilitate the process of seeking bail in the FIR of 2011 and the charge sheet in the same has also been filed.

·        The R&R Officer to begin showing land to the oustees from the 20^th January and will ensure before this date that the land to be shown is cultivable and free of encroachment.

·        House plots will be offered in lieu of Rs. 20,000 given many years ago, without consent.

·        Surveys to be conducted in all the 13 villages once again to assess the actual and left our affected persons and properties.

·        Immediate registration of the proposed co-operatives of the displaced fish workers from Machliya, Umda, Bhiti and Chhota Khattali villages.

·        Assistance for irrigation facilities in the original villages by grant of 100% subsidized motor pumps.

The oustees also informed the authorities that the charges in the FIR of November, 2011 such as destruction of public property are completely false and fabricated and we shall fight this out in the court and also claim compensation for the losses caused due to crop destruction at the satyagraha.

The oustees asserted that this was the beginning of their struggle and expect the officials to keep up their promises, otherwise a massive Jail Bharo Andolan would start from February, 2014, with hundreds of women, children and cattle as well.  Later in the evening, many of the oustees, along with Medha Patkar went to the District Jail and met thesatyagrahis and also conveyed  to them the developments of the day. The 40 adivasi oustees shall be bailed out byMonday. A brief chronology of the events in enclosed.

Idibai            Surbhan Bhilala            Kamla Yadav                  Meera (09179148973)

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CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

pertaining to the unlawful arrest of the Jobat Satyagrahis

24^th November, 2011: Hundreds of Sardar Sarovar and Jobat dam-affected adivasis, farmers who have not been rehabilitated as per law and judicial orders, begin their indefinite Zameen Hak Satyagraha at the Govt. Agricultural Farm, Dehedla, Jobat.

30^th November, 2011: Jobat Police register an FIR against ‘100 to 150 unknown persons’ under Sections 447, 147, 353, 332 of the IPC and also under Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

19^th June, 2012: Dr. Afroz Ahmed, Director, Rehabilitation, Narmada Control Authority, visits the Satyagraha and engages in dialogue with the oustees. Dr. Afroz Ahmed also assured to raise the matter with the Rehabilitation Sub-Group, Delhi, after which a direction was issued by the Sub Group in its meeting on 12^th September, 2013 to the Govt. of M.P. to offer Government farm lands in rehabilitation.

21^st June, 2013: Physical Attack on the oustees at Jobat Satyagraha, in the presence of the SDM and Tehsildar, by the Farm Officer, his son and many outsiders. FIR registered, but no action taken.

12^th November, 2013: The administration consents for a temporary electricity connection to the oustees at the Jobat Farmland.

24^th December, 2013: Tehsildar, Jobat issues notices to 26 oustees, asking them to voluntarily remove themselves from the occupation / encroachment at the government land by 11 a.m. on the 27^th December, otherwise the encroachment would be removed with the help of police force and that the oustees would be responsible for any economic loss during the eviction.

26^th December, 2013: Oustees reply back to the notice dated 24-12-2013, narrating the sequence of events over the past 21/2 years and the legal grounds for their cultivation. The oustees also express willingness for a detailed dialogue with all the officials, but there was no response from the Tehsildar.

28^th December, 2013: Collector, Alirajpur visits the Satyagraha site and threatens the oustees to vacate the land. He also proposed that land would be provided to the oustees at Pangula (Jobat). The same day, two oustees are taken by the local revenue officials, but the said land is already under encroachment since long time and the encroachers are fiercely resistant to give away the lands.

31^st December, 2013: Tehsildar, Jobat issues second notice to the oustees, asking them to voluntarily remove themselves from the occupation / encroachment at the government land, otherwise the encroachment would be removed with the help of police force and that the oustees would be responsible for any economic loss during the eviction.

3^rd January, 2014: Oustees reply to the second notice of the Tehsildar, Jobat describing that the land shown at Pangula has been encroached and no other land was shown to them, thereafter.

5^th January, 2014: Collector deploys a huge contingent of police force and forcibly gets the adivasi oustees, including many elderly, 6 women and 2 children arrested. The tents were uprooted and all other belongings were seized. The oustees were arrested under provisions of Section 151, 107 and 116 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code. All of them were taken to Alirajpur directly and were produced before the SDM, Alirajpur. They were later sent to the Alirajpur District Jail. The oustees were not produced before the SDM, Jobat and were also not lodged at the Jobat Jail ! The police prays the SDM to heavily fine the oustees, so that they do not repeat the ‘offence’ of occupation again!

6^th January, 2014: Oustees march to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Mr. Akhilesh Jha and question the arbitrary manner of arrests.  He was convinced that the contentious issue is lack of rehabilitation and that the police has no role to play, but had to act on the basis of the FIR. The oustees also submit a complaint under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 demanding legal action against all the concerned officers for arresting the adivasis, evicting them from the land, causing destruction of the standing crop at the Satyagraha and submergence of their lands and homes, without lawful rehabilitation. The same day, police file an application before the SDM stating that these 39 oustees are the same persons wanted in the FIR filed in 2011. The SDM grants permission and the oustees are ‘formally’ arrested inside the jail.

7^th January, 2014: Hundreds of oustees gherao the office of the Collector, Alirajpur. In his presence, the R&R Officer, agrees to show land to the Jobat oustees. Since no assurance regarding the unconditional release of the oustees was given, the protestors cautioned that the struggle would intensify after 3 days.

8^th January, 2014: Arrested oustees are produced before the Judicial Magistrate (Second Class), Jobat and sent back to the District Jail, Alirajpur.  Charge sheets / Challan is filed by the police. 

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Related Links

Jobat Satyagrahis stand vindicated

40 Narmada Adivasi Oustees in Jail since 4 days