If the dam is built as planned, what impact will it have on the Narmada Valley region five years from now? What about 20 years from now?

Medha Patkar — First of all, since there is no master plan for rehabilitation prepared to date, thousands of families will continue to be affected, whether or not the dam height is raised beyond the present 100 meters (+3 meters of humps [additions that divert the flow of flood waters during construction, but increase dam height — ed.]). The number of families still residing in the reservoir area is not less than 40,000 — the government figure is different, but thousands of major sons [family sons over the age of 18 — ed.] of the landholder are to be, as per the policy, considered as separate family. They are yet to be rehabilitated. The thickly populated villages, with houses, markets, best of horticulture, which also has the prime agricultural lands, are yet to be affected. Any construction beyond the present height of the dam will spell doom to all those.

The situation in the valley today is one of rampant malaria. The partially built reservoir has become the breeding place of mosquitoes and health impacts are not taken care of. No health facility is available in the hilly areas, which are already affected. Crocodiles have eaten at least six young boys in the past two years, since the crocodiles are disturbed from their habitat. And a few people, including a young NBA activist, have died, sinking in the silt, which is 25-30 feet high on the banks. Many children have died of snakebite. All of this will continue to be and there will be much more if the dam height is raised.

The impact will grow within 20 years. Depending on whether or not the dam is raised, downstream impacts will start occurring in terms of dried areas of 40 kilometers [25 miles]. So are the chances of many fish kills and the likely sea ingress.

The earthquake trigger has already started. There is a likelihood of larger seismic activity in the region with the extremely volatile region getting activated due to the large water body. There are a number of faults under and around the river and the dam site. With the forest getting lost and the catchment degraded as catchment area, treatment is only on paper, the silt will continue to gather up to a height many times of [the present height], which is around 25 feet. Thus, the life of the dam will be reduced drastically.

S.K. Mohapatra — The Narmada Valley extends both upstream and downstream of the dam. But the dam is so situated that the reservoir upstream is not really a vast submergence of the valley as it is made out to be, but it is more like the river widening itself on both sides as it flows down between the hills. Thus, the submergence on either side is along the slopes of the hills which are sparsely populated with forest classified as degraded.

With the massive compensatory afforestation (78 trees per every tree lost), the surrounding areas are greening progressively. At the end of five years, and more so at the end of 20 years, the upstream side of the dam will have a wider river with water throughout the year boosting the economy in terms of fishing, inland transportation, enriched forest cover, and availability of cheap hydro power. On the downstream side, the river will have a regulated flow of water of substantial quantity throughout the year (instead of 90 percent during two months of monsoon and very little in the rest of the year as of now), making the valley continue to reap the benefits of the river without fear of major floods. In the valley and beyond, about 4.9 million acres of land will receive assured irrigation, boosting the agricultural economy.

If the dam is built as planned, what impact will it have on the nation of India five years from now? What about 20 years from now?

Medha Patkar  — The water supply from the dam 20 or five years from now, its magnitude, and distribution to various parts of Gujarat will depend on whether or not the government sticks to its original plan of 2 percent to Kutch and 20 percent to Saurashtra. The tail-end region will be the most affected if the present skewed distribution, which has included cities of Ahmedbad and Rajkot, is continued. Also, as Madhya Pradesh has shown in its affidavits to the Supreme Court, since the water in Narmada has reduced from an estimated 28 MAF [million acre feet] to 23 MAF, the benefiting areas will suffer. The benefits of irrigation and power will be reduced by 15-25 percent if the upstream Narmada Sagar Dam is not completed, which, in turn, is dependent on its rehabilitation, environmental impacts, and [mitigating factors].

As per the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the interest paid on the debt for the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is 28 billion rupees ($611.5 million) and an additional 120 billion rupees ($2.6 billion) will have to be paid by the year 2013. The mounting debt of Gujarat will have a major [impact on] SSP and the overall effort of diverting 90 percent of the Gujarat irrigation budget will leave other small, short-term projects not only in the command area of Sardar Sarovar, but also in the 86 percent of Gujarat which lies outside of the Sadar Sarovar-benefited area.

The vast wealth of archeological treasure and cultural sites will also be lost forever, even without estimating and accounting for the loss. This includes hundreds of temples, many mosques, beyond the numerous sacred groves of adivasis [tribal people — ed.].

The food production (independent assessment is that the contribution of dams to this is only 10 percent) will be severely affected. As it is seen in many dams, the benefits are highly overestimated and the costs neglected. The contribution of Sardar Sarovar towards food production will be highly insignificant in comparison to the submergence of prime agricultural lands due to the dam.

S.K. Mohapatra — The dam will benefit the national economy immensely. Four major states — viz. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan — would benefit from the project. Nearly five million acres of land in Gujarat and Rajasthan including desert and semi-desert areas will start getting assured water for irrigation. Additional income due to agricultural production alone is estimated to be of the order of $2 billion. Electricity of the order of 1,450 MW will be shared by the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. About 8,215 villages and 135 towns in Gujarat and 124 villages in Rajasthan will benefit from the project. Women in North Gujarat and Rajasthan walking long distances for getting drinking water will be spared from the drudgery. The quality of water would improve and so would the standard of health.

Some of the benefits have already started flowing and would substantially increase in the next five years. A large number of industries would also be able to get a water supply, and areas hitherto backward will witness industrial development. In 20 years’ time, the command area development would be completely in place and agricultural surplus would lead to increased purchasing power and a boisterous economy.

A major recurring problem in India is the occurrence of droughts and floods. How will this dam and major dams such as these alleviate or aggravate this problem?

Medha Patkar — In spite of India having built over 3,600 large dams to date, the drought problem is not only unsolved, but has also worsened over the years. Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) has already begun causing flood in the downstream region. If the height of the dam is raised, it will be much more. In any case, there is no specific guarantee of flood control as a benefit of the dam. As regards drought, it happens to be there even in the villages on the bank of the Narmada, where there has been no effort to harness the river water, so clean and accessible, to fulfill the basic, minimum requirement for either irrigation or drinking water supply.

The drought-affected and -prone areas are not in any way going to be benefited by SSP. Only 2 percent of Gujarat’s share will reach Kutch, the district occupying 24 percent of Gujarat’s land, as per the plans. Whether or not all of Kutch will get even drinking water will depend on the actual magnitude of water reaching Kutch. This is likely to be greatly affected due to various political, economic, and social pressures and pulls on the water allocation, which will come from the big farmers, sugar factory owners, industries, and the urban rich, all of whom await optimum water supply, beyond what is allocated to them.

Thus, there is no claim taken by the authorities that they would provide irrigation in these most drought-affected areas during drought years, even if the dam is completed. The canal supply from the dam is to be closed down between April and June — the very months when farmers need it.

S.K. Mohapatra — Droughts and floods occur due to the erratic nature of monsoons and the fact that most rivers in India, including Narmada, are rain-fed. Thus, while 90 percent of the water flows down the river during the two months of the monsoon, only 10 per cent is left to trickle down during the rest of the year. Areas away from the river, which do not receive good rainfall, go through drought conditions. In Gujarat, a large part of the state receives scanty rainfall and the monsoon totally fails in some years. Such bad years come on an average in three-year cycles. A dam like Sardar Sarovar can help ameliorate the situation by:

1. Storing the water during the monsoon and releasing part of it to the river downstream in a regulated manner so that flood conditions get moderated. (The power thus generated is a bonus.)

2. Releasing the other part of the stored water through a wide network of canal systems (total canal length: 66,000 km [41,012 miles]) taking the water to places as far as 700 km [435 miles] away.

Thus, the water, which would have flown into the sea during the monsoon, would be stored to irrigate 4.9 million acres of land and supply drinking water to a population of 40 million in Gujarat. One of the worst effects of drought, drinking water scarcity, would become a thing of the past in Gujarat once the dam is completed.

How will relocation and compensation plans impact Narmada Valley residents who do not own the land they live on?

Medha Patkar  — At least two-thirds of the families in the hilly, adivasi [tribal] area do not have the land to cultivate in their name. These people are unfortunately considered as encroachers. The reality is that their forefathers started living there even before the governments came into existence.

The issue of land compensation — there is no provision in the Tribunal Award, but only in the state policies of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh does not have such a provision even when it has the largest submergence and tribal population. Even the policy of Gujarat and Maharashtra differs with Gujarat offering 2 hectares [5 acres] of land to all encroachers and Maharashtra offering 2 hectares to old (before 1978) and 1 hectare [2.5 acres] to new encroachers. Getting 1 hectare or no land is a guarantee to face destitution and be compelled to take manual labor. Adivasis, who never resorted to manual labor before displacement, are pushed into it now. Horrified families at rehabilitation sites in Gujarat and Maharashtra, who have shifted years ago, face a bad plight. Some of them have returned back to their original villages, while some have not moved from their original villages. Hundreds would like to return back given a chance.

S.K. Mohapatra — The Gujarat policy of rehabilitation allows landless residents of any state to get at least five acres of land in an irrigated area in Gujarat. This has attracted thousands of landless affected families of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to settle in Gujarat. They also get 540 square feet of land for their homestead along with amenities such as school, dispensary, children’s playgrounds, and financial assistance to buy agricultural implements and farm animals.

What are current statistics regarding displacements, resettlements, and compensation?

Medha Patkar — Families remaining in the original villages: 40,000 Families shifted to rehabilitation sites: 9,000 Families affected by catchment area treatment, in the downstream, compensatory afforestation, colony, sanctuary, etc. (the number is in the thousands, but no official assessment has been done to date) are yet to be declared as project-affected and offered the same rehabilitation package as the reservoir-affected.

The rehabilitation sites with house plots and agricultural lands are in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh has paid cash compensation, violating policies for a few thousand people. They, too, are not in favor of moving unless the entitlement deeds are not given.

Maharashtra is to revise its record of affected population, while Madhya Pradesh is not. The Official Task Force of the Government of Maharashtra (composed jointly of government officials and the Narmada Bachao Andolan) conducted a survey involving the Gram Sabhas (village body) and concluded that the number of families still in the villages is more than double the government statistics. As per the Task Force, 2,900 families in the villages and at least 1,500 are sure to fall into the major sons [family sons over the age of 18 — ed.] age criteria.

Madhya Pradesh’s final figure has yet to be ascertained, as there is no task force. But the government accepted that 22 years after the Tribunal Award, the submergence area has increased by 13 percent (2,703 hectares) [5,000 acres] and 2,500 families additionally will be affected. But thousands beyond this have to be enlisted as major sons. In Gujarat, thousands of complaints regarding bad land or no land at the rehabilitation sites are still to be resolved. What has happened so far is relocation and not rehabilitation.

S.K. Mohapatra — There are about 41,000 families affected by the dam who are to be resettled in three states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. (The figures are vastly exaggerated by anti-dam groups.) About half of them have already been resettled. It may be mentioned that all the families affected by the height of the dam so far reached have already been resettled. As far as compensation is concerned, the Narmada Award lays down the minimum compensation based on a principle of “land for land” besides housing plot, cash assistance, transportation, and common amenities like school and dispensaries. But all the states have their own policies which give more than the above. In Gujarat, every ousted family, whether from Gujarat or from any other state, gets at least five acres of land (even if he is landless) along with a housing plot of 540 square feet and cash assistance of 45,000 rupees [about $983 – ed.]. This is over and above compensation paid for properties lost due to the project. The resettlement villages, which they choose by option, are provided with roads, street lights, schools, dispensaries, common grazing land, drinking water supply, and play facilities for children. For details please visit: http://www.ncaindia.org/rnr_prov.htm.

Have Indian authorities complied with the Supreme Court ruling that affected people must be resettled and rehabilitated before further increases in dam height are approved? If not, how many people are still living in the submergence area without resettlement and rehabilitation?

Medha Patkar — The hundreds of families affected due to submergence [after the Court judgment] in 2001, 2002, and 2003 including those affected at 80 meters [262 feet], 90 meters [295 feet], and the present height of the dam are definitely in violation of the Supreme Court order. The dam should not have gone ahead from 90 meters [295 feet] as no rehabilitation has been done.

There are 40,000 families remaining in the original villages.

S.K. Mohapatra — Yes, absolutely. No construction for raising the dam is undertaken till the people affected by the height to be raised are resettled and rehabilitated. As per a mechanism laid down by the Supreme Court, three independent authorities in three states headed by former High Court/ Supreme Court judges have to certify that the rehabilitation and resettlement is satisfactorily carried out, before clearance is given for raising the height of the dam by only as many meters as for which resettlement has been completed.

To what extent has the Indian government looked into other possible sources of energy — such as solar, or even nuclear, power? Do you consider these (or any others) to be viable options?

Medha Patkar  — Yes, there are viable options in terms of energy. Hydropower has proved not to be cheap and clean. The other options can be solar, wind, micro hydel, and vast human power by using labor-intensive technology in a country like India.

The decision on Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) was not done after any scientific scrutiny of the options. Only after the NBA erected the first micro hydel project did the Maharashtra government take to this.

However, we do not feel nuclear energy is a better option as it has its own environmental, economic, and social costs and political repercussions in a war-mongering world. The viability depends on criteria since the economics apart, the social and environmental impacts, if considered, certainly reject large dams as unviable in terms of mitigating these impacts and compensating for them. More research and development in the non-conventional energy sector — on micro and macro levels — should be our next goal.

S.K. Mohapatra — Hydropower meets only about 27 percent of the country’s total power needs. The country has to look to all other sources of energy generation including solar and nuclear power. The viability of these options change from location to location and also over a period of time, but cannot be sufficient to meet the total power needs.

When will a safe water supply be brought to every citizen of the state of India? How can this best be done?

Medha Patkar  — While every political party has promised this in their election manifestos over the years, this is not in sight. Rainwater harvesting and decentralized water management is yet to get the due priority, political support, and budget allocation. As a result, the large dams are still looked at for all water needs and have proven to be a mirage to many with the estimated water benefits, with projects not getting completed and financial non-viability coming in along with skewed distribution [of water]. The only way to get potable, safe drinking water is to give maximum emphasis to local water harvesting, starting with the smallest unit, the watershed, and coming to the macro one; that is, the river basin. It requires a change in policy in the most participatory manner. No amount of privatization and global capital investment and huge and gigantic projects like inter-linking projects will solve the problem. It will only worsen the situation.

S.K. Mohapatra — As far as Gujarat is concerned, all the families are likely to receive safe drinking water by the year 2007. The government has started commissioning a network of pipelines, pumping stations, and treatment plants to take water from Narmada and other sources to every village and town of Gujarat.

What do you expect will be the environmental impact of the dam?

Medha Patkar  — The environmental impact assessment was not done when the dam was given a conditional clearance and has not been done to date. The Ministry of Environment and Forests stalled the project from 1983-87 on these grounds. However, in 1987 a conditional clearance was given. Non-compliance with those conditions nullified the clearance in 1991 and since then the dam has gone ahead without an environmental clearance. This was stated by the minority judgment of Supreme Court.

A proper impact assessment has to be done before any more construction and only that will help to know the magnitude of the dam’s impacts. Only that can facilitate identifying the means and ways to mitigate them.

S.K. Mohapatra — The impact on the environment of any such project has to be mixed. But in the case of Sardar Sarovar project, it is likely to be more on the positive side. As against only about 91,430 acres of land that may go under submergence, an area of about 4.9 million acres of land will get the benefit of irrigation. On the forest side, the kind of forest submerged was mainly of inferior type, whereas the compensatory afforestation which has been undertaken will create a thick forest of superior type not only in the surrounding area of the dam, but along the 500-km-long [311-mile-long] canal bank. The main canal, which will be like a perennial river flowing through the length of Gujarat, will be able to recharge along its course a number of small rivers, which were earlier water deficient. The main canal to the extent completed has already led to a marked increase in the ground water table and a decline in salinity. This has also improved the environment of existing sanctuaries for birds and animals. The project is going to transform the landscape in the arid and semi-arid regions. The stark and barren land in these regions is going to be covered with green vegetation.