NARMADA ACTION ALERT: April 19-20, 2006
From: "Initiative India" <initiativeindia
gmail.com>
Current Status:
The Supreme court has adjourned the hearing of the petition from the Andolan seeking a stay on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Project from about 110 metres to 122 metres to May 1. While empowering Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the dispute over raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam, the Supreme Court on Monday warned the States concerned that it would have no option but to stop construction if the rehabilitation measures were inadequate.
Immediate Action Required:
A Flood of Phone calls and faxes to the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, and Prithviraj Chauhan (PM Office)
Letters to Editors of major newspapers
Phone Numbers, fax numbers and email addresses given at the end.
Talking Points:
[Use suitable modifications of the suggested points when talking to the Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan or with Sonia Gandhi's office. Points below assume one is talking to PMO. ]
When three of his own ministers had been sent to Madhya Pradesh by him to assess the extent of rehabilitation, and if they had come back to report inaction, corruption and callousness on an inhuman scale, then it ought to be the Prime Minister - and not the Supreme Court - who must decide and act on that report. Request the prime minister to embody and implement the "statesman-like approach", which the court has advocated, in order to strike that difficult balance "between rehabilitation and development".
The Union Government has proposed in the Supreme Court that the Sardar Sarovar oustees "would be completely rehabilitated before end of August, 2006, the period of onset of monsoon." The PM knows very well that rehabilitation in 3 months is impossible. So, this is a meaningless assertion. If it is granted by the Court, would simply mean submergence of thousands of families without rehabilitation. The Soz report clearly acknowledges that rehabilitation cannot be completed by MP until atleast a year from now. The major rehabilitation site where MP claims as having resettled 18000 families has only a handful of families with very few houses, no water, no roads, no school, etc. Similarly with many other sites, How can this be rectified in 3 months?
The monsoon begins in June, and last year there were major floods at the end of June in Gujarat in which many people were killed. So, the argument that onslaught of monsoon is in August is unacceptable. The government stated in the Court that in case the rehabilitation could not be completed then the government would resort to temporary resettlement. This is a cruel and inhumane proposal by the Government. Temporary resettlement is only an escape mechanism for the government leaving the families destitute.
It is Dr. Manmohan Singh, and not the Supreme Court, who should be taking clear, firm and ethically reasonable decisions regarding the height of the dam. It is, again, Prime Minister Singh, together with the Central and state governments, who must see that the displaced are rehabilitated in a proper and timely manner.
Contact Information
From India: Use STD code 0 -11 From abroad: Use (international dialing code)91-11- before dialing the numbers below
Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh
Office: 23012312, 23013149, 23019545, 23016857 (Fax)
Home: 23018939, 23018668, 23015470, 23015603 (Fax)
Parliament: 23017660, 23019817, 23014255 (Fax)
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, leader of UPA, governing coalition
Office: 23014481, 23012656, 23018651 (FAX)
Mr. Prithviraj Chauhan
Office: 23010191, 23013719, 23017931 (Fax)
Home: 23013132, 23017839 (Fax)
Parliament: 23034963
Email Addresses of PM & Minister of State in PMO
pmosbpmo.nic.in
chavanprithvirajsansad.nic.in
Letters to the Editor
[Please mention you complete postal address and phone for chance of publication in most cases ]
[ For all participants in alert: ]
HT: lettershindustantimes.com
IE: editorindian-express.com, editorexpressindia.com
ToI: editortimesofindia.com
Hindu: thehinduvsnl.com
Asian Age: asianageasianage.com, asianagevsnl.com
DH: lettersdeccanherald.co.in
Statesman: 
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.feedback.php?usrsess=1 ,
thestatesmanvsnl.com
[ For US based participants in alert: ]
India West: Newsindiawest.com
India Abroad: editorialindiaabroad.com
narmada 2006 | narmada | www.agp.org (archives) | www.all4all.org