New Delhi
14 April 2006
In what would be a shot in the arm for Medha Patkar and her
colleagues, the United Nations has expressed concern about the decision to further
raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river and has asked India to
release the report of the findings of the three Union ministers who recently visited the
Narmada Valley.
The UN has also urged India to take immediate steps to ensure that any further raising of
the dam height will not result in the violation of the human rights of those affected.
"We are concerned about the recent decision of the the Narmada Control Authority (NCA)
to further raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River from the
present 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres and reports indicating that this will result in the
submergence of villages and displacement of over 35,000 families," read the statement
issued on Thursday.
Hina Jilani, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General on the situation of
human rights defenders; Miloon Kothari, the special rapporteur on adequate housing as
a component of the right to an adequate standard of living; and Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the
special rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people,
are the signatories to the statement.
"According to a Supreme Court judgment in 2000 any further increase with respect to the
height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam should be preceded by the implementation of
resettlement and rehabilitation measures. However, according to reports received,
adequate rehabilitation has not yet been provided for those affected at the current dam-
height, many of them indigenous peoples and farmers.
"Official estimates say that an additional 24,421 families in 177 villages of Madhya
Pradesh are to be displaced at the dam height of 121.92 metres. We are concerned
about information indicating that in Madhya Pradesh rehabilitation sites are still not
ready and none of the sites have sufficient house plots for affected families and that this
may leave people homeless when affected villages are submerged. Furthermore,
alternative agricultural land is reportedly not being provided, and where land has been
allotted as in Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is uncultivable and inadequate," they
observed.
They also expressed concern about the situation of those carrying out peaceful protest
to demonstrate their opposition to the raising of the dam-level. "We remind the
Government that the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders protects the
right to peacefully react or oppose any action detrimental to human rights or fundamental
freedoms," they cautioned.
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