Narmada Bachao Andolan: Medha Patkar's indefinite fast seeking rehabilitation for affected families enters seventh day

Bhopal: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar’s indefinite fast seeking proper rehabilitation of the families which would be displaced following closing of the gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada entered seventh day on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_3747583” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of social activist Medha Patkar. PTI[/caption] Patkar was firm that she would not end her fast till the demand of proper rehabilitation of the affected families was met, said Himshi Singh, one of the activists working for the displaced people. Patkar has launched her agitation at Chidhalda village in Dhar district. “Her health is OK,” Singh added. An official of the Madhya Pradesh Narmada Valley Development Authority said the state government was reaching out to 7,010 affected families, “requesting” them to evacuate their houses in the dam’s catchment area in the state before it is submerged. “Though the Supreme Court in February allowed the Madhya Pradesh government to use force to evict people from the catchment area after the 31 July deadline, it (use of force) will be the last option,” he said. He said the state government had made all the arrangements at the temporary shelter homes built for the people who are still staying put in the catchment area of the dam. Other displaced people were given land against loss of land or monetary compensation as per the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) policy, he added. A few project-affected people on Wednesday staged a protest at Kalmal village in Dhar, burning an effigy of Madhya Pradesh Narmada Valley Development Minister Lal Singh Arya. According to the NBA, 40,000 families in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani, Alirajpur, Khargone and Dhar districts face displacement following the Union government’s nod for closing of the Sardar Sarovar Dam’s gates in neighbouring Gujarat. The closing of gates will increase the water level in the dam’s catchment area.