'Why Is The Report Not Being Made Public?'

It is curious that for what stops the Central Government from making publicits stand after the tour of the Narmada valley by the three Union ministers onApril 6, while the indefinite fast by Medha Patkar, Jamsinghbhai andBhagwatibhai from the Narmada valley entered in 14 th day on Tuesday (April 11).Despite the propaganda by the government through the media of the 'stable'condition of Medha Patkar and others on fast, their health has been worsening asthe precious time is lost in the Center's indecision.

Though her resolve to stop the injustice in the Narmada valley remainssteadfast, Medha Patkar's physical condition is becoming serious. After 14 daysof fast, her blood pressure has gone down alarmingly and the potassium level inbody has been abnormally fluctuating. She is extremely exhausted and sufferingfrom pains and allergic symptoms have surfaced with vengeance. After whiskingher away in the hospital and making her invisible, the Central Government hasbeen spreading the incorrect information about her health. This is being done totrivialize the gravity of the situation and the issue she and her colleagueshave been raising.

On the other hand, we are surprised that the Central government has not beenable to come up with the report on the visit of the three Union Ministers onApril 6, to the Narmada valley, to take the stock of the displacement andresettlement and decide about the work on the dam. Despite the short andtruncated visit, thousands of the women, men made the ministers to see theaffected villages and the settled and prosperous life there. They exposed theclaims regarding the resettlement and brought forth the illegalities, corruptionand repression involved into entire displacement process. As the formerCommissioner for SC & ST, Dr. B.D. Sharma and renowned lawyer PrashantBhushan, who accompanied the ministers hoped, " it has become crystal clearthat the decision to raise the height of the dam would submerge thousands ofoustee families without rehabilitation, the government would take immediatesteps to stop the construction of the dam."

However, there is no word yet from the Central government about the visit andits perception of the issue. Is the Union government afraid of the illegal andunconstitutional pressure tactics by the Gujarat politicians? The Uniongovernment and Gujarat politicians has to bear in mind that starting thedam-work beyond 110 meters itself was an illegal, unjustified and violation ofbasic right to life of the people in the Narmada valley. So stopping the work onthe dam is just the stopping the illegal, inhuman violation. One cannotblackmail others with that illegality.

Meanwhile, the people and organizations all over India and abroad have beenextending support to the struggle of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and its presentdemand to stop the work on the construction work on the Sardar Sarovar dam. FrommKochi, Trivendrum, Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, to Mumbai,Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Indore, Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Ranchi, Varanasi, Kolkata,Himachal Pradesh, to Bangladesh, various places in the US and UK, there havebeen solidarity dharnas and protest actions. In the Narmada valley, Badwaniobserved 'bandh' on April 10. Hundreds of more people will join April 12 rallyin Delhi. The people are resolute; the Government must show justice and fairplayregarding people's life and death issue.