The release of ‘Tehri 2015 – The Ten Years of Injustice,’ a documentary film, and a book, ‘Why DamsIJ,’ by Vimal Bhai a t the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi has elicited focus on various aspects of dams and their detrimental impact, especially as experienced in Uttarakhand.
The documentary was released at a function on the weekend by Justice Rajinder Sachhar while senior journalist Shambhunath Shukla released the book published by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM).
According to Vimal Bhai, “The movie is a testimony to the human and ecological crisis that emerged in the Himalayan region after the construction of dams like the Tehri dam which have ruined the lives and livelihoods of local communities and caused irreparable damage to the ecology, environment and cultural values which were there for centuries.”
“It also speaks of a long history of illegal and forced land acquisitions, violations of environmental safety norms and unfair rehabilitation of displaced families that are still seeking justice even after 10 years of its commissioning. Complementary to the documentary released, the book documents years of work done in the dam affected regions of Uttarakhand and discusses the environmental degradation, displacement and loss of livelihoods of the people in Uttarakhand due to construction of large dams. It reflects on the worsening state of ecology, environment and people in Uttarakhand,” he said.
Advocate Sanjay Parikh, fighting cases for people on Tehri Dam since 1992, was also felicitated on the occasion. He opined that the authorities concerned had failed to understand the real problems caused by large dams. He said, “Tehri dam was environmentally not feasible apart from which rehabilitation has not been done which refutes the claim of benefits to people from Tehri dam. The lack of social assessment and other devastation of cultural values because of displacement were missing in the prior assessment.”
He said that the residents of affected villages were frightened by displacement with the project alienating the culture and society along with their association with the forests. “It was hard to witness the devastation and face the people as an advocate; we are human beings and cannot overlook the plight of people and upcoming devastation,” said Parikh.
Speaking at a panel discussion held on the occasion, activist Medha Patkar said, “Tehri Dam is a part of series of planned violence on people’s lives, livelihoods and environment. These atrocities are not considered anti-national whereas the people raising voices for justice are termed anti national.”
“Government is playing a very dangerous role in diverting the people’s attention and defaming the real struggles to facilitate the natural resources in the hands of industries and rich people. The development model has become a slave to industries and corporate, moving out the people from their own villages and exploiting the natural resources available for all. Government, executives and others are rarely questioned inside the courts. There is also unwillingness to even listen to those people who are fighting for people’s issues,” she said.
“Three things impacting judgements are principles, pragmatism and prejudice”, said Usha Ramanathan, legal researcher and fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, referring to the Tehri Dam case. Environmentalist Soumya Dutta alleged that the inequality in planning and delivering the benefits as a major issue causing public suffering.