As Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated his 69th birthday on Tuesday with much fanfare in his home State, hundreds of Sardar Sarovar Dam Project Affected Persons (PAF) were on a dharna near Kasrawad bridge on river Narmada in Barwani district observing ‘Dhikkar Diwas’.
The protest started with a rally led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan activists in the afternoon and continued till late in the evening from Khandwa-Baroda Road.
Many protesters got their heads tonsured to mourn the submergence of large parts of Madhya Pradesh calling it a betrayal by the state's last Shivraj Chouhan Government.
While talking to media persons, NBA leader Medha Patkar told reporters, “The Gujarat government raised the level of water in the dam to 139 metre height only for the sake of celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. We damn this birthday celebration. Wish him a long life.
But he should understand his duty and responsibility to let people live.”
The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is spearheading the protest demanding the gates of the SSD, built on the Narmada river, be opened immediately.
"The backwater has partially or fully flooded 192 villages in Barwani, Dhar, Alirajpur and Khargone districts and one township in MP. We want the sluice gates to be closed only after total rehabilitation of residents in these areas," said Himshi Singh, an activist of the National Alliance for People's Movement.
Madhya Pradesh is witnessing an unusually long and heavy spell of rain this year -- one which has exposed the administrative and political perceptions.
The first casualty was Madhya Pradesh government's credibility.
The previous government led-by Shivraj Singh Chouhan had, under pressure from Gujarat government, agreed to raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to its full reservoir level.
The water level of famous Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in Narmada district of Gujarat surged to its highest capacity at 138.67 meter on Sunday evening, but before that the areas earmarked for rehabilitation are have gone under following incessant rain. This happened for the first time since the dam's height was raised in 2017.
