NEW DELHI The Indian Supreme Court Wednesday cleared a controversial multi-million dollar river dam project in central India that opponents say will uproot thousands of people.
The Supreme Court cleared the 475-million dollar Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada by a majority of 2-1 in two separate judgements delivered in New Delhi.
The majority view was supported by Chief Justice A.S. Anand along with Justice B.N. Kirpal.
The dissenting view was expressed by Justice S.P. Bharucha who said the project required reconsideration in view of the fact that proper environmental clearance had not been obtained when the project was cleared in late 1970s by the government.
The project was stalled since 1995 due to a petition filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) saying relief and rehabilitation of the people ousted by the dam had not been properly worked out.
Protest spokesman Sanjay Sangeai told German press agency DPA in an interview that the court's decision was a "blow" to the rights of the tribals living in the area and other human rights activists protesting against major projects.
He said the court had not looked into the major issues like rehabilitation of the dam oustees.
"The court did not protect in their judgement the rights of the tribals and peasants in their fight".
One of the major opponents of the project is Magsasay-Award Winner Medha Patkar and novelist Arundhati Roy, winner of the 1997 British Booker Prize Award.
The Narmada Valley project envisages construction of 3,200 dams that will reconstitute the River Narmada and its 41 tributaries into a series of reservoirs.
There will be 30 major, 135 medium-sized and nearly 3,000 small dams, used to channel water into thousands of miles of irrigation canals, which are to be built.
Two of the largest dams are multi-purpose, the Sardar Sarovar in Gujarat State and Narmada Sagar in upstream Madhya Pradesh state.
The dam is designed for hydroelectric power, irrigation and flood control.
Since its inception in early 1980s, the project has faced several economic and legal obstacles.
When completed, Sardar Sarovar dam will be about 450 feet high, submerge nearly 40,000 hectares of land and displace a quarter of a million people.
Those in favor of the project say it will supply water to 30 million people and irrigate crops to feed another 20 million.
They also contend that a huge amount of money spent on the project over the years will go waste.
The Narmada River wells up on the plateau of Amarkantak in the Shahdol District of Madhya Pradesh. It then winds its way for 1,300 kilometers through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra states before emptying into the Arabian Sea at Baruch in Gujarat.
The Sarovar Dam displaces people in Madhya Pradesh and Mahashtra, but the benefits will be felt mainly in Gujarat, according to an agreement reached by the three states in 1979.
Environmental and human rights concerns in the past have led to international lending organizations pulling out of the project.
The World Bank withdrew from the project seven years ago, mainly on grounds of improper resettlement policy.
It had agreed to give 450-million dollar loan for the project in 1985, but later backed off in the face of growing protests from residents threatened with resettlement.
Former Indian Supreme Court Judge V R. Krishna Iyer says that for over half a century people in India believed big dams would deliver people from hunger and poverty. "The opposite has happened", with the nation pushed to the brink of a political and ecological emergency.
Roy lamented before leading a march on the dam in July: "The era of big dams is over. All over the world they are recognized as technological disasters as big mistakes. Yet in India, our government refuses to review the situation".
India does not have an explicit national policy on resettlement and rehabilitation. It is mainly cash compensation for land acquired from those who are forced to leave their homes.
(DPA)