For the last three decades, a growing movement has amplified resistance to the displacement of people and environmental destruction caused by damming of the Narmada River. Since May, over 6,000 people have converged against further plans for dam construction.
The Narmada Valley Development Project is one of the world’s largest multipurpose projects. In 1985, the World Bank agreed to finance $450 million towards the project’s largest dam, Sardar Sarovar. After extensive resistance initiated by the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the World Bank withdrew its loan in 1994. Despite this being a major victory, the local government financed and constructed the original Sardar Sarovar dam. While continuing to face some resistance from community groups at the Supreme Court level, the Sardar Sarovar dam was completed in December 2006 and was inaugurated by then Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi (currently India’s Prime Minister).
Over the last few years, the height of the Sardar Sarovar project has been raised to 122 meters (400 feet), displacing nearly 250,000 villagers and submerging 255 villages. Flooding in the monsoon season has exacerbated displacement of villagers. In May 2014, the newly elected Indian government made a decision to further raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam by another 17 meters. As of October 2014, construction had already begun, and it is projected that another 100 villages will be destroyed. In response to the major threat, over 6,000 people and stakeholders have held meetings with elected members of legislative assemblies and several experts of a non-government based Central Fact Finding Committee (CFFC). After visiting the Narmada Valley, the CFFC authored this report  which highlights the gravity of the situation and concerns of the affected people. In August, a “Pada-yatra” (foot-march) was also held in the valley in protest.
Some major findings from the report:
Thousands of families, specifically Adivasis and Dalits, and landless poor will be forced into displacement and will not be given any alternative place to live;
Land that is currently recognized as being affected by the project is not being rehabilitated;
Thousands of displaced families have previously been recognized as “displaced” and have not received compensation or rehabilitation benefits;
Large scale frauds have persisted in compensation and rehabilitation;
Rehabilitation sites that have been identified by the government are inadequate for people to live, with poor water supply, broken roads, no electricity and nonexistent education and health facilities; and
A series of legal violations occurred, including a violation of the Narmada Tribunal Award.
Nisarpur village going under water
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Chikhalda village road & houses going under water
At the heart of the problem in the Narmada Valley is the displacement of the poor, Adivasi and Dalit communities, and the injustices on their livelihoods. As Goldman Environmental Prize winner Medha Patkar, known for her decades of activism around the Narmada River Valley project, said in an interview with Sierra Club, “The worst is that the people not involved [in planning] are cheated. [...] If you want to really use the resource for dealing with the inequities, for fulfilling the basic needs, this is not the way at all. That is why these kinds of major mineral based energy [projects are] having huge targets and huge claims of reaching out, etc. but [are] not even bringing in that result. It’s concentrated centralized generation of power and concentrated distribution -- with no justice in distribution.”
In the U.S., hydroelectric dams have damaged almost every major river on the east coast, while producing only minimal amounts of power. Â As India continues to invest in and commit to ambitious solar energy targets, alternatives to large-scale dams will be key to sustainable energy development. Â