Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar is holding a ‘jal satyagrah’ along with 40 other women at Barda village in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh alleging that state government has compromised the interests of its people by releasing water from Indira Sagar and Omkareshawar dams to ensure that the Sardar Sarovar dam has water till optimum level on September 17, when PM Narendra Modi will dedicate it to the nation.
Talking about her protest, Medha Patkar said, “The two dams have not yet reached the optimum levels, in fact, there is no rain upstream, the Bargi and Tawa dams too are much below their optimum levels, but water is being released so that there is water for the inauguration ceremony. And as a consequence, the backwaters are submerging many areas in Barwani where compensation has not been given.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, full 56 years after the foundation of the Sarovar dam was laid will dedicate it to the people of Gujarat.
September 17 also happens to be the birthday of PM Modi.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government has claimed that compensation has been given to all those who are getting displaced and that people were being evacuated as per orders from the Supreme Court.
However, Medha Patkar and her supporters are insisting that they would not move from the water at any cost.
In June this year, the Narmada Control Authority had given permission to the Gujarat government to close the sluice gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam which could lead to rise in the water to the optimum level of 138.68 meters from 121.92 meters.
