Thousands of oustees affected by the Indira Sagar dam on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh will start Jal Satyagraha from September 1, simultaneously at three villages- Badkhalia in Khandwa district, Mel Pipliya in Dewas district and Unwa in Harda district.
These oustees are demanding that the water level in the Indira Sagar dam be maintained at or below 260 M as per the Orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court, that the thousands of houses and lands falling in the submergence area be surveyed and acquired and the concerned families rehabilitated, that the affected landholders be allotted 5 acres of land each and the landless families be provided with a grant of Rs. 2.5 lakhs so that after displacement, the oustees become better off by restoring their lives and livelihoods.
Alok Agrawal Agrawal of the NBA told media persons that 255 villages in Madhya Pradesh are affected by the Indira Sagar dam on the river Narmada, which has the largest submergence in the country. Despite a land for land R&R Policy, land was not provided to even a single affected landholder and instead the farmers were brutally evicted with pittances by the way of compensation.
As a consequence, nearly 85 per cent of the farmers could not purchase any alternative land and became landless. In 2012, in violation of Orders of the High Court and the Apex Court, the State and the NHDC limited raised the water level up to 262 m. In a petition filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan in this matter, the Apex Court directed the State to file a reply by the end of January 2013.