Medha Patkar: The Dam Woman

Medha Patkar’s eight-day hunger strike protesting against the rehabilitation scheme offered by the Government has brought the issue the Sardar Sarovar Dam back to the forefront. The concerns of the activists are well understood and appreciated by the corridors of power and the people in general. But their refusal to take cognizance of what the Government has to offer shows how these activists refuse to listen to another point of view and think of their viewpoint as final, correct and standing. A closer look at the whole Narmada Bachao Andolan shows that the fight of the NBA with the Government goes back some 20 years, while the whole idea to make the dam was first proposed in early 1900’s. The Government undertook the project, as it would help close to 1.5 million hectares of land that had little or no sources of irrigation. The benefits of the dam have already started showing its effects in many villages of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The Government has also till date spent close to Rs.1600 Crores on rehabilitation for those whose villages have been displaced or submerged. While there is doubting that the people displaced have to be relocated and their source of livelihood restored, the activists idea of putting a full stop on the entire project is detrimental and against the progress of the nation. The dam in the long run will help the poor farmers and improve their plight, the cost of 200 villages affected by the dam, pales in front of the millions who stand to benefit from the project.

Similar scenes were witnessed during the Tehri dam project. There was a public outcry led by Sunder Lal Bahuguna about the project. Not realizing that the dam project itself provided jobs to thousands who worked there apart from the fact that the project would help provide electricity to large parts of Uttaranchal and neighboring states. But neither the activists nor the media would have any of it. Our television screens were full of shots of the submerged Tehri town and the clock tower that was the last landmark that stood as if it were a symbol against the unnatural progress of mankind (or so we were supposed to believe). Not one news channel took the effort to show the relocated New Tehri Town that resides on top of a mountain overlooking a beautiful man made lake thanks to the dam. The people of Tehri not only have a new town and a tourist attraction but also abundant electricity.

I would like to also inform our knowledgeable activists that as India progresses there is great need for all resources including electricity, irrigation and other infrastructure. This will only be possible through maximizing our existing resources with a mix of conventional and unconventional methods. This includes dam projects, nuclear energy and renewal sources of energy along with conventional sources of energy like fossil fuels. If the activists oppose all development to fuel the burgeoning Indian economy then be prepared to have your electricity line cut since you oppose the very means of production to light up TV sets, bulbs and fridges. For the majority of citizens who are tired of power cuts or worse, no power, let the projects go ahead and make their lives better. Only if these dam(n) activists would understand!