NARMADA BACAHO ANDOLAN, MADHYA PRADESH

‘It was a humbling experience’ - a cliché that came to mind, as Bhagaban bhai said “good night” and drove off in the jeep. We waved and left to take the short walk to the comfortable hotel room. He, to share a floor with his comrades, their numbers changing every night, in a modest accommodation in Khandwa. Bhagaban bhai, fondly called ‘dada’, is among the foot soldier-cum-generals of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, himself displaced by the Sardar Sarovar project. NBA as the movement is popularly known, is a platform on which, for about two decades now, indigent and exploited farmers of the Narmada valley have been struggling against the organized attempts to deprive them of their life, as they have known it. Different versions or interpretations of NBA and its work are available across the world, the version changing to suit the needs of the person hearing it. The purpose here is not to add a new version, but put down a few vignettes on what we saw and experienced during our travels around the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, in the company of a few NBA activists, visiting villages and meeting people who have been part of the struggle.

Woh baandh jo nahi bani

We started with Mandleshwar, the town where the group based themselves between 1997 and 2004, taking part in a struggle to stop the Sri Maheshwar Hydro Electric Project. This project – a large dam across the Narmada and a power generation unit – would have resulted in the complete displacement of 61 villages along the river. Activists of NBA responded to calls for help from the communities in the area and helped organize a movement, leadership of which was taken by the local communities themselves, particularly the women. In the convoluted environment created by the MP State government and its private partner for the project, the movement had to latch on to every crutch of straw to survive and eventually emerge victorious. Using a world-wide network of supporters; a series of non-violent tactics demonstrating collective strength; and laying siege to offices of financial institutions committed to the project, the movement was able to get the powers-that-be to abort the project, at least for the time being.

Lepa is the village closest to the proposed dam on the left bank of the river. Naturally, a village at the forefront of the struggle. Lepa also has to itself the credit of having supplied a large number of full-time activists to NBA. The time of the year (farming season) and day (mid-day) we visited, meant that we could not meet many of the stalwarts of the struggle, busy as they were in their fields, tending the kharif crop. The few we spoke to vividly articulated how they took rallies out in Mandleshwar, filling the jails, Bhopal, Delhi. They gathered in thousands, blocked trucks carrying materials to the proposed dam site, kept vigil for months.

Mardana, the other village we visited in the Maheshwar dam affected area also had its share of leaders. Notable among them is Susilabai, fondly called Patlen Ma. She is also now the Sarpanch of Mardana gram panchayat. She is very clear that but for the active role women played in the Maheshwar struggle, the movement could not have been so successful. On what could happen if the work on the dam is revived (rumours of which are rife in the area – not entirely baseless, the State government has recently given another guarantee to the project promoters, a textile group called S Kumar’s; there is some talk of resuming work on the dam in December 2005) she was clear, “Build the dam? Over our dead bodies.”

This part of Nimar region (consisting of the four districts of Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone and Badwani), abundantly favoured by the Narmada is among the most fertile and productive areas of Madhya Pradesh state. Farmers grow crops of cotton, lentils, soybean, wheat, sugarcane and banana. Farm incomes are very high, the local labour markets are thriving and people generally contented. Poverty as we understand – the absolute type (landlessness, food insecurity) – is not really an issue here. Farmers are hardworking, even entrepreneurial, who realise only too well what this land and water means to them. Their struggle is over for now, but they continue to contribute a fraction of their annual harvest, to help NBA continue the struggle over other dams proposed over the Narmada.

Such a region has a lot to lose from an obtuse plan like that of the Maheshwar project. Designed to produce 400 MW of electricity from a water source whose measurements are at best dubious, the project is part of the even more obtuse Narmada Valley Development plan. This plan envisages building three large dams, 30 medium and 3000 small ones across Narmada and its tributaries turning this life-giving, dynamic and revered mother river into a series of static, life-less reservoirs, all in the name of development. Development, of the already developed; irrigation, to the already cash-crop raising lands; power for ever hungry industries, and displacement and deprivation, of the poor badly in need of some development not displacement. Alas, that is not to be.

The Maheshwar dam struggle is a remarkable chapter in the history of the poor people’s struggle for controlling own destinies. The struggle in the villages of Khandwa district that we visited next was grimmer, a struggle to delay the inevitable and not stop it.

Fighting impending doom

The Indira Sagar project, once also known as Narmada Sagar, is the second largest dam built across the Narmada as part of the hare-brained Narmada Valley Development Plan. Its claim to fame (as advertised by a leaflet printed by the public sector undertaking that runs the project) is that it has created the largest reservoir in the whole of Asia, and has enough concrete in it to build a highway from Delhi to London. Construction of the dam is almost complete up to the sanctioned height of 245 metres (above MSL). The Japan-built electronically controlled gates of the dam span the next 17 metres taking the total height of the dam to 262 metres. Calculations made by several experts show that the net effect of the stored water would exceed 267 metres or in some cases even 272 metres. However, all plans regarding submergence to be caused by the waters and resettlement of affected people are done based on the 262 metres standard.

The immediate struggle that people from 91 villages are fighting against is pressing the button that will put the large Japanese gates of the dam in place. These 91 villages will submerge as soon as the gates are closed, taking the total water storage to 262 metres (or 267 or 272, take your pick). They continue to stay where they are as they have not received the compensation, due to them. Some have received compensation for agricultural land that has been submerged, but that happened even when the water was at 245 metres. Even this compensation was meagre, valuing very productive crop lands at Rs.40 or 60 thousand per acre. Similar land elsewhere in the area would cost not less than Rs.1.25 lakhs or so, if one wants to buy it.

Activists of NBA had visited the villages 15 or 17 years ago when the dam plans were being drawn up, including Gelgaon. Gelgaon was then 21 kilometres from the Narmada, and the villagers were not willing, at that time, to buy the argument that the waters of the dam would submerge their land and houses. The activists, faced with lack of interest from the communities soon to be affected could not force the issue further and went back to their struggle in the areas affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam (the largest of the umpteen Narmada valley dams, affecting poor people in the three States of MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra; benefiting water guzzling industries of Central and South Gujarat; still the greatest vote catching weapon for politicians in Saurashtra and Kutch; also the most known aspect of Narmada Bachao Andolan).

The town of Harsud was in news during the monsoons of 2004. Residents of the town were forcibly evacuated by the government, fearing submergence from the Indira Sagar waters and resettled in the village of Chanera, now called New Harsud. Those who have seen this new settlement vouch to the barbarity of the action of the State; waterlogged residential area with very little basic facilities; worst of all, no access to any means of livelihood, even wage labour. What happened in Harsud, and the knowledge of their impending fate with monsoon 2005 goaded people from the 91 villages to approach NBA for help. From January 2005, the State government has been making public announcements, through newspaper reports, radio announcements, village visits by police, asking people to move out of their villages before July 2005. But where to and how, no response!

NBA activists started mobilizing the villagers, and collecting information about the situation. A Public Interest Litigation writ, supported by a 400 page document containing information about the villages and actions of the government so far, is filed before the MP High Court in Jabalpur. The case was being heard by a two-judge bench of the court during the time of our visit to Khandwa. Villagers of Bijaura, Muhunia Khurd, Muhunia Kala, Chalpi and Gelgaon – those whom we met in the course of our travel displayed two emotions at the same time –fear of the end that is so near that you can feel it around the corner, but also resolve to fight till that end comes. The latter aided beyond measure by words and actions of Bhagaban bhai and his ilk from NBA.

Their struggle is not just against the insensitivity of the rulers, who consider the poor farmers dispensable in the pretentious development path that they promote. There is complete subversion of natural justice in the way resettlement and compensation plans are drawn up. The Narmada Hydro Development Corporation (NHDC – the public sector undertaking that runs the dam) pays Rs.20 thousand to every family that opts not to accept the 540 square metre resettlement plot offered to them by the company. It then advertises for sale of house plots in New Harsud (ostensibly to dam oustees) of 540 sq. m at Rs.210 thousand. So if any ousted family chooses to buy a plot in New Harsud it has to pay the company more than ten times the compensation they were given, by the same company.

What takes the cake however, is God himself. Adjacent to the villages of Chalpi and Gelgaon is the settlement of Sri Singaji. Legend has it that this revered god like figure left his foot prints at a place near this settlement and over the years these footprints became a worship place. A former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, of the Congress party, who visited the area refused to make any investment to save the temple built there, from submergence. His helicopter could not take off till he got down and begged forgiveness from Singaji, or so the local lore goes. The person who replaced him as Chief Minister had no doubts about her priorities. As soon as she assumed power, she sanctioned Rs.8 crores (or 9) for building structures that would save the foot prints from submergence. Nearing completion now is a 2 kilometre long elevated road (about 5 metres wide, soil excavated from the sides filled to a height of about 15 metres, the slopes on the sides dressed with stone) and at the end of the road a concrete cylindrical structure about 15 metres in diameter, 40 or 52 metres high. At the bottom of this cylinder remains the footprints at their original location, devotees would be able to see it from 40 (or 52) metres above through a series of optical devices.

God saved by humans, now he seems incapable of saving them in return! The courts built and run by human beings are now to determine if the people of the 91 villages will get an opportunity to leave with dignity, justice done towards them, and not have to run away from the soil where generations of them lived and died, overnight, like fugitives.

Two days after our visit, the MP High Court ruled in favour of the villagers, by staying closing of the dam shutters beyond three metres. While this is an immediate reprieve for NBA the struggle has only begun. Several thousands of individual cases will now have to be followed up with the administration, cases of wrong awards of compensation, of left out lands, of wrong valuations and the like. For the villagers, ahead are days of more struggles – as Bhagaban bhai puts it, “Khandwa mein dera baithana padega” – set up residence in Khandwa. Slowly NBA activists have started mobilizing the villagers for the struggle that lies ahead.

Andolan se Nirman

Away from the bustle of protest marches, sieges and court cases the Andolan is also engaged in working with village communities in an effort to demonstrate alternate approaches to natural resource management, that are community managed and controlled and more relevant to the needs of the poor. We visited the villages of Jamniapani and Rupkheda in Khargone district where such work is underway. Rupkheda is a remarkable example of self-help; people have managed to do for 60 thousand rupees work conventionally worth more than seven times that, all through voluntary contribution of labour. In the past 3 years or so, the people have built 12 earthen bunds, 130 boulder gully checks and several hundred sand bag dams. These measures have helped in increasing the water level in the wells and this has helped farmers to raise a second crop, mostly of wheat. Increased focus on protecting trees has increased green cover in the village. Following Rupkheda, more villages in the area have come forward to do similar work. Jamniapani is one of them. Work started here only very recently. In 4 days time people have built an earthen bund that will help harvest water from a catchment area of about 20 hectares. More such structures are being planned for after the monsoon season.

Unlike conventional watershed development projects that deploy technically trained personnel, work in Rupkheda has been done entirely by local youth. They received exposure and technical training at different places and with very little external support have gone on to create some very strong and useful water harvesting structures. All this is being demonstrated in villages which are in the command area of the Veda dam project – areas touted to benefit from the additional irrigation available due to the dam. These villages are beginning to demonstrate that they can do the same and even better by less expensive and less damaging methods.

Two sides of the same coin

A recurring theme during our short tour around the Narmada, watching results or processes of the Andolan, was the perceived dichotomy of struggle for rights and ‘constructive’ work. How and when such dichotomisation happened is worth exploring. However, it is worthwhile to note that even to a hardcore activist like Bhagaban bhai, these two are not separate issues. He is clear that both are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot happen without the other. Wish more development theorists and academics would listen to this!

At the level of grassroots activists of NBA there is a fairly strong recognition of the need for demonstrating alternate approaches for issues on which they oppose the conventional, mainstream approaches. However, they seem to be caught within a tight warp they have built for themselves; that of an activists’ approach to more constructive work. To what extent this is valid or not can only be proven with time, but we had this strong feeling that there is a lot of groping in the dark. Alternate approaches will have to encompass all aspects of the strategy, not just the way outcomes are defined. It is fine for a people’s movement like NBA to not accept institutional financing, but constructive work like watershed development requires high levels of investments that are probably beyond the scope of individual contributions. It would be worthwhile to see how the whole movement comes of out this and similar contradictions that it is faced with today.

Challenges to sustaining the momentum

As we finish our short immersion in the swirl around Narmada we carry back more than these facts. Some eye-opening experiences, some questions, and testimonies to the courage, grit and dedication of some very ordinary people of the Narmada valley!

We wonder whether similar collective action is possible in areas that we are familiar with, Orissa and Jharkhand. Though not in such humungous scale, displacement caused by “development” projects are as much a reality there as it is in the Narmada valley. We could identify some very obvious difference between most parts of Orissa and the Nimar region – people are much more progressive in Nimar; agriculture is much more evolved; there is not the spectre of food insecurity and large scale migration, that haunts the poor of Orissa; much more developed mechanisms towards meeting basic needs are in place.

The poor of Orissa, particularly the adivasis are today facing increased pressure from the government to give up claims over lands that they live off and surrender these to fulfil interests of industrialising the State. Over the past half a decade or so, we have seen several attempts to organise the affected communities and help them raise their voice against the injustice but, with very little results. We cannot but agree wholeheartedly when Radheyshyam of NBA says, “bhuke pet pe andolan sambhav nahi hai” – such struggles are not possible on empty stomachs!

A significant part of NBA’s attention is also on generating awareness among the people on issues related to the power sector. It has taken a position opposing the widespread attempts to privatise core infrastructure services. As part of the struggle against Maheshwar dam project, NBA had successfully lobbied for the establishment of a taskforce to look at the viability of the project and also at alternatives. A large volume of work done as part of this taskforce was later to be used as inputs for a mass awareness campaign. However the thick of work at the Indira Sagar affected villages have put paid to these plans, at least for now.

Securing rights, to social transformation

The strength of the mobilisation process that NBA has followed around the issue of dams, displacement and resettlement was very visible in all the villages we visited. Particularly in the Maheshwar dam area – the economically progressive portions of Khargone districts – several larger social issues remain. Consider these: girl children seldom study beyond class five, particularly when they have to travel to schools outside their village; marriage age for girls is as early as 12 years. And contrast it with the high level of participation of women in the anti-dam agitation, the leadership roles women have played. Is it yet another example of regressive social structures accompanying economic progressiveness, like Punjab and Haryana?

Social transformation needs a deeper and more sustained level of engagement than what a rights based approach, with its singular goal-setting seems to provide for. It needs more people, more resources, a great deal of intermediation and continuous engagement with communities to challenge contradictions and entrenched socio-political systems within them. Is it possible for communities having realised their rights in some form, to wrest control and effect transformation in other realms of socio-political systems as well?

Several questions on the efforts at such social transformation persist, most good enough to cause discomfiture. Bhagaban bhai acknowledges the need for such action and the limitations of the current approach. Ever optimistic, we are reminded of his favourite maxim, “Jahan kum, wahan hum”!