MP government not serious about compensating dam oustees: Narmada Bachao Andolan

BHOPAL: The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) today accused the Madhya Pradesh government of turning "despotic" and pro-corporate, and alleged that it was not serious about the rehabilitation of farmers affected by the Omkareshwar dam project.

The ' Jal Satyagraha' protest, as a part of which farmers are standing in waist-deep water of river Narmada in the state's Khandwa district against the raising of the dam's water level, entered the 26th day today.

"The BJP government in MP under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has turned despotic and pro-corporate like (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi at the Centre," NBA leader Chitraroopa Palit alleged while talking to reporters here.

"Despite our repeated pleas to Chouhan to sit across the table and solve the issue of rehabilitation of farmers affected by Omkareshwar dam, he isn't talking to us. The condition of 20 farmers, who are standing in Narmada water at Ghogalgaon village since last 25 days, has turned worrisome," she said.

About 2,500 farmers have neither been compensated with land nor money against their land "grabbed" for the Omkareshwar (irrigation and power) project, she alleged.

Apart from 20 farmers (participating in Jal Satyagraha protest), 45 more people have joined the agitation over raising the water level of Omkareshwar dam on Narmada from 189 metres to 191 metres, which has rubbed salt on the wounds of the oustees, she further said.

These farmers were displaced as their places got submerged in the dam's water, she said.

On the other hand, the state government is maintaining that people affected by the project have been adequately and abundantly compensated.

On April 25, Chouhan had said that 213 families had not yet accepted the rehabilitation package, as they were being misguided by some forces opposed to development.

The NBA and those who were backing the agitation were anti-development, he said.

The Jal Satyagraha is being supported by the NBA and Aam Aadmi Party.