To ensure social justice for the struggling damn affected people of Narmada Valley

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To,
The Prime Minister of India
Fax: 011 23019817, 23016996 (Res)
Off: +91-11-2301-6857, Res: +91-11-23015603
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CC
Ms. Sonia Gandhi,Chairperson, Indian National Congress,Fax: 011 23018651,Email: 10janpath@vsnl.net, soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in
Shri Saif-ud-din Soz, Water Resources Minister, Fax: 91-11-23714200, 11-23714663, 11-23711780 (off), 11-23782032 11-23782034 (res),E-Mail: ssaif@sansad.nic.in, minister-mowr@nic.in
Ms Meira Kumar, Minister of Social Justice& Empowerment, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi – 110001 (India), Ph: 011- 2338 1001, 2338 1390, E-mail: min-sje@sb.nic.in

Dear Dr Singh,

A very important meeting of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) is expected to take place on thursday, 20th September 2007, in New Delhi. The assessment of the current status of rehabilitation of the Sardar Sarovar dam reservoir affected families and the possibility of completing the dam height by installing the gates, are expected to be part of the agenda. While the authorities are pushing strongly to install the remaining 16 meters of gates, the legitimate rehabilitation of more than 25000 families in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat is far from complete. The adivasi, dalit, fisher folk, peasant and farmer families are affected, among whom those who are already affected but not yet rehabilitated, are pushed into extremely difficult living conditions since filling the reservoir began in 1994.

The height of the dam cannot be increased until the rehabilitation of all the families affected at the full height of the dam (138.68 meters, with back water effect at the Maximum Reservoir Level) are completely rehabilitated, with cultivable lands and other amenities, as per the stipulations of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award (NWDTA) as well as the repeated orders of the Supreme Court.

If a decision is taken in violation of the rights of the affected people, who, as you know, are struggling for more than two decades to ensure their livelihood security and dignity of life, it will be a disaster not only for the Narmada Valley but also affecting the integrity and legitimacy of our democratic polity and governing institutions and its purposes.

In this critical situation we appeal to you, to urgently intervene and write to the authorities to ensure social justice for the struggling dam affected people of the Narmada valley. Your support has been a great source of strength to us and now we need it more than ever.

We Demand that

1. the completion of rehabilitation of more than 25,000 families, as per the law i.e. land for land rehabilitation and other amenities to all those who have legal rights for it, in their own state, before the dam is completed.
2. the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to be stayed (as per status quo) until and unless rehabilitation is completed in a just and appropriate manner.
3. to ensure the rights of the fishing families who are loosing their livelihood, by providing them legal rights for fishing in the reservoir and other amenities.
4. to ban the illegal cash for land rehabilitation, now known as the Special Rehabilitation Package (SRP)
5. To redress the serious issues of land and livelihood of those who are already resettled, but not yet rehabilitated, in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh resettlement sites, before the dam is completed.
6. The Monitoring bodies such as NCA and Grievances Redressal Authorities (GRA) should comprehensively and directly asses the ground level reality regarding the implementation of rehabilitation, before coming to any conclusion regarding the status of rehabilitation.

Sincerely



In Solidarity,
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