'Mr PM, Please Don't Change The Monsoon Arrival Dates...

April 19, 2006

To
Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister of India,

Dear Prime Minister,

Instead of acting on the reportof the Group of Ministers who visited the Narmada valley, the uniongovernment has promised the Supreme Court that the Sardar Sarovar oustees"would be completely rehabilitated before August, 2006, the periodof onset of monsoon." [1]

We wonder if you are aware that as per the IndiaMeterological Department [3] the onset of the southwest monsoon in theNarmada valley is from June 10-15 every year and the withdrawal is Sept 15-Oct1. So, by August, we will be half way into the monsoons! 

Do you expect that the displaced families, even if they were magicallyrehabilitated by Aug 1, will plough their lands – assumingthey are allotted lands and not cash – and sow the seeds in Augustfor the monsoons that start in June? If they are even now allottedcash, do you expect them to purchase lands, till them and be ready forcultivation this monsoons? 

Have you forgotten that by June last year the monsoon was in full swingand  hundreds of  people were dying in the floods in Gujarat? TheSardar Sarovar dam was overflowing at 110 mts and by July 1, 2005 alreadythe newspapers were quoting Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd as saying that had the damheight been 121.9 mts., the reservoir would have filled up by then insteadof the waters flowing waste to the sea. [2] In fact, not only in 2005, butin many of the past years the dam was overflowing in July itself. Ofcourse this is to be expected as whether there are heavy rains in Gujarat orMaharashtra or Madhya Pradesh, the SSP dam overflows and by June or July everyyear at least one of these states in the catchment area of SSP receives hugerainfall. 

So how did your government arrive at the August deadline for rehabilitatingfamilies and claim that is when monsoons started? If you arereally concerned about rehabilitating families, as you have said, then surelyyou must realize that this can only be done by immediately calling halt to damconstruction so as to minimize the scale of displaced families, and then on awar footing rehabilitating those that are left so that they are not endangeredby the rising waters in June and July. 

The Narmada Tribunal Award required that rehabilitation should be completed 6months before submergence and this any way has not been done. There was areason why they said 6 months. They appreciated that it takes time for farmersand adivasis to move to new sites and prepare their new lands for the monsooncrop. Your government has shown little understanding of the time needed by theadivasis and farmers.  

The union government cannot be blamed for stopping the Sardar Sarovar constructionif rehabilitation has not been done by Madhya Pradesh and other stategovernments. With a clear conscience we request you to re-examine therationale for choosing August as the deadline, and if it is really toensure that rehabilitation is completed before onset of monsoons as stated bythe union government, then you must halt construction keeping in view that theonset of monsoons is in June and not August. 

Like a statesman, you need to be truthful and not change themonsoon arrival dates to hoodwink the Supreme Court and the nation. These areploys that any run-of-the-mill politician employs, not a statesman. The SChas empowered you to halt construction if rehabilitation cannot be completed bythe time monsoons arrive. 

We are awaiting a statesman-like Prime Minister of India who puts pettypolitics aside and takes a meaningful and truthful stand that signals thattrue development can only happen when the rights of the displaced adivasis andfarmers are not robbed. Otherwise, you are playing the cruelest joke possible onthe people of the Narmada valley by pretending to care for them but actuallybeing hand-in-glove with the state governments of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh inactualizing construction without rehabilitation. 

Sincereley,
Ravi Kuchimanchi
Friends of River Narmada

Ravi Kuchimanchi is a B Tech from IIT Bombay and PhD from Universityof Maryland in USA who went along with the group of ministers as an observer to tourthe Narmada valley.  

References:

1. 'The Centre informed the court that the oustees would be completelyrehabilitated before August, 2006, the period of onset of monsoon.' Inaddition to the link in the text, also see: TheEconomic Times, TheIndian Express, TheHindu.

2. Statementsby SSP's Lahiri  and report on July 1 2005:

"I am helpless, tell me what to do,'' says Sardar Sarovar Narmada NigamLimited (SSNNL) MD P K Laheri. ''All this water could have been saved…"…. The dam is now 110.64 metres high. Had the state government got permissionto raise it to 121.94 metres, it would have held the water, but the problem isthat Madhya Pradesh has to complete rehabilitation of the project-affectedfamilies (PAFs).

3. Normal dates for Onset of Southwest Monsoons in different regions ofIndia: IndiaMeterological Dept: For Narmada region – June 10-15.