This correspondent was part of a four-member team, which visited the affected areas. The other members of the team were S.C. Behar, former chief secretary, Arun Gurtoo, former director general of police and Chandrakant Naidu, a senior journalist. The team visited more than two dozen villages and met Medha Patkar, who is on an indefinite fast along with 11 associates. The team also witnessed a marathon dialogue between Medha Patkar and other NBA spokespersons and a team of top officers of the Madhya Pradesh Government.

Patkar challenged the claims of the officers' team and proved that the facts and figures being bundled out by the government are nothing but a tissue of lies. The team reached the fast venue on the directive of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and included Sanjay Dubey, commissioner Indore division, Ajay Sharma, additional Director General of Police Indore and Chandrashekhar Borkar, additional secretary in the chief minister’s office.

Medha is surrounded by her supporters round-the-clock. They sing bhajans, interspersed with short speeches. She is also assisted by a team of young technical experts who are ever ready with voluminous facts and figures to refute government claims about the rehabilitation of affected people.

During an interaction with the villagers, they alleged that they were being used as sacrificial goats to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Gujarat state will soon elect a new legislative assembly. Successful completion of Sardar Sarovar Project will get votes to Modi and Gujarat BJP, it is generally believed.

The media team visited several villages in Madhya Pradesh affected by the raising of the height of Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat. The villages include those coming under the submergence zone and those identified by various agencies for the rehabilitation of project affected families.

For instance, Salha village in Dharampuri tehsil that witnessed frenetic construction activity with tin sheds being erected to settle project oustees has only a small percentage of people meant to be relocated in the site. The present status of activity shows that basic amenities like regular water supply, drainage, electricity, toilets etc would need quite some time to reach the colony – a major disincentive for the families to shift to the new location. Some of the families have accepted the proposal to reallocate but they are still not prepared to give up claims on their original property till the basic infrastructure like roads and sewage disposal facilities is in place. A plot allotted to a Muslim woman (separated or divorced for the last 8 to 10 years) with two young children has an adivasi burial ground on it. Almost all areas, earmarked or allotted, are much below the road level, and need a lot of filling before taking up construction. This is besides the extra load for foundation in the black cotton soil. Submergence has turned a large area into an island and there is no bridge to approach the place.

In a couple of other villages near Dharampuri, the area identified for resettlement is a large stretch of unlevelled slushy land unfit for immediate construction activity. The black cotton soil that runs deep in the area discourages construction activity at a cost envisaged by the government. A house built on the black cotton soil will cost 50 percent more.

A visit to the original homes of the affected families reveals the reasons for the hostility to the government’s haphazard rehabilitation norms. A three month compensation package of Rs 80,000 has been fixed, irrespective of the size, need (medicine, medical treatment etc) of the families who opt not to avail of the temporary three-month shelters.

Ekalwara has different flood level marks, drawn to bring some houses under submergence and exclude others arbitrarily. For a haveli owned by a large undivided family the government has quoted Rs 12,000 as compensation - a pittance by any standards. Some much smaller houses are also being offered the same compensation. Compensation for land lost can never be the same, irrespective of the size.

Another example of flawed planning is seen at the rehabilitation site of Nisarpur. Thirty families originally located in the area have been rendered landless to make room for prospective arrivals from five other villages. These families are now running from pillar to post to get compensation through land or finance. A large percentage of the proposed resettlement sites in this area is without regular water supply despite years of existence.

Nisarpur, a large village of 10,000 people, claimed to be a model of rehabilitation activity by the government, shows that the work in progress will need months to finish. The ensuing process of rehabilitation could take years. An alert for hazardous consequences of locating families in the tin sheds came from Nisarpur where three persons were electrocuted while working on electricity supply line.

The level and the volume of discrepancies clearly reflect long-time neglect and therefore it will now need several months for intensive effort to complete the rehabilitation process, including the revival and enlargement of the role of the Grievance Redressal Authority for quicker grievance disposal. A wing either independent or under the GRA for field verification and reporting needs to be created urgently to connect with the authority and the other agencies involved.

There appears to be a total disconnect between the NBA and the government officers, whereas both swear by truth. Only a third party, legally equipped, can help resolve the issues involved.

The government’s claims on preparedness for resettlement are supported by a large set of photographs of various community projects like schools, PHCs, community centres, water tanks and houses. They are obviously picked up selectively from diverse locations not related to the areas where relocation is due. (IPA Service)