Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal from the Narmada Bachao Andolan concerning the failure to rehabilitate families who have been evicted for the construction of a dam, by a private entity, the S.Kumar’s group of companies.
For more information, please contact:
Narmada Bachao Andolan
2, Sai Nagar, Mata Chowk, Khandwa, M.P
Tel: +91 733 2228318, +91 9425394606, +91 9425928007
E-mail: nbakhandwa@gmail.com
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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INDIA: Maheshwar dam evictees urgently require your support
Dear Friends,
As you are aware, the Maheshwar hydel power project being built on river Narmada is a privatized project, which was handed over to the S.Kumars group of companies. Around 70,000 people of 61 villages are affected by the submergence of the dam. In the last 16 years, the project promoters have resolutely refused to rehabilitate the displaced families, so that more than 85 percent oustees remain to be resettled till date and 100% of the oustees remain to be rehabilitated. Yet the Maheshwar dam is 90 percent complete and the promoters are seeking to fill the dam. In spite of this, the project promoters and Government of Madhya Pradesh has asked the Ministry of Environment and Forest to allow partial filling of reservoir till 154 meters. The factual situation in this respect is as follows:
1. Last year on 27.8.2011, when the project authorities illegally closed the gates of dam and illegally filled the reservoir till 154 meters, many houses and lands in the affected villages were submerged. This was in complete violation of Environmental Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and Order of Environment Ministry dated 6.5.2011.
2. There is no assessment of the back water impact at EL 154 meters and any permission to fill the reservoir up to 154 meters is likely to lead to the death of hundreds of people.
3. As per Central Electricity Authority no electricity generation is possible at 154 meters.
As per the Union Ministry of Power, the tariff of the electricity generated by this project is assessed at Rs 10 per unit, which is so costly that it cannot be purchased by anybody. Thus, there is no public interest to justify the submergence of 61 villages of this country for electricity that no one can purchase, only in order to provide undue benefit to one single company.
It appears that the only motive behind asking for this submergence is to drive away the oustees without rehabilitation and resettlement, thus blatantly infringing their constitutional and human rights. The people affected by the Maheshwar dam need your urgent support in their struggle.
We request you to send e-mail and fax letters to Mrs. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Chairman, United Progressive Alliance and Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister, Government of Madhya Pradesh. Draft letters are given below. Kindly circulate this appeal to as many people as possible.
We hope to receive your support as always.
Chittaroopa Palit, Alok Agarwal, Radheshyam Patidar, Kadvijiji, Dinesh Kewat, Sanjay Nigam
To,
Mrs. Jayanthi Natarajan,
Hon’ble Minister
Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Paryavaran Bhavan,CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi
Phone: 91-11-24361727, Fax: 91-11-24362222
E-mail: mosefgoi@nic.in
Subject: No permission to fill Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts.
Respected Mrs. Natrajan,
We are writing this letter to you with deep concern about the rehabilitation of oustees of Maheshwar Project. You are no doubt aware that the private project promoters of the Maheshwar dam have not rehabilitated more than 85% of around 70,000 oustees of Maheshwar Project, and even a complete Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan with details of agricultural land, housing sites etc, as per condition 3(vi) of the environmental clearance dated 1.5.2001, has not been submitted to your Ministry. It is also learnt that now the Madhya Pradesh Government and private project promoters are asking for filling the reservoir up to 154 mts.
This is completely unacceptable for the following reasons:
a. On 27.8.2011, last monsoon, when the Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited, the project authorities of the Maheshwar dam illegally closed the gates of Maheshwar dam and illegally filled the reservoir up to 154 meters at the dam site and to higher levels at the further reaches, many houses and lands got submerged in several villages. Since no backwater impact at 154 meters has been estimated by the authorities, any permission to raise the water level to EL 154 meters is likely to cause huge submergence and death of hundreds of people.
b. Zero percent rehabilitation has been achieved and less than 15% of the resettlement of the oustees has been achieved, although the same is required to be completed before reservoir filling is permitted. Even the Maheshwar dam oustees affected at 154 meters are yet to be rehabilitated.
c. As per the Central Electricity Authority, no electricity generation is possible in the Maheshwar dam at 154 meters. Clearly, the only motive behind the request of the SMHPCL for reservoir filling seems to be to threaten the oustees to flee their lands and homes without rehabilitation and resettlement.
As per the Union Ministry of Power, the tariff of the electricity generated by this project is assessed at Rs 10 per unit, which is so costly that it cannot be purchased by anybody. Thus, there is no public interest to justify the submergence of 61 villages of this country for electricity that no one can purchase, only in order to provide undue benefit to one single company.
Therefore, we request you to:
a. Not to give any permission to fill the Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts.
b. Take strict action against the private project promoters for violation of the Environmental Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and Order of the Environment Ministry dated 6.5.2011, by the illegal closure of the dam gates on 27.8.2011.
c. Direct the State Government and project authorities to strictly comply with the conditions of Environment Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and rehabilitate the oustees as per the conditions of the statutorily binding environmental clearance and the Rehabilitation policy. As per your clearance and Orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court, the dam reservoir can be filled only six month after the completion of rehabilitation and resettlement of all the oustees.
We hope you will take immediate steps in this matter and not allow the common people to lose faith and trust in the democratic processes and institutions.
Thank you,
—
To,
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
South Block, Raisina Hills,
New Delhi 110 101
Fax: 91-11-23019545/23016857
E-mail: manmohan@sansad.nic.in
Subject: No permission to fill Maheshwar reservoir upto 154 mts.
Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh,
We are writing this letter to you with deep concern about the over 70,000 people of the 61 villages affected by the Maheshwar Hydel Project in the Narmada valley. The private project promoters of this Project – the S.Kumars has not resettled more than 85% of around 70,000 oustees of Maheshwar Project, and has not rehabilitated any of the oustees. Even a rehabilitation plan as per clearance of Ministry of Environment dated 1.5.2001, with details of agricultural land, housing sites etc has not been submitted to the MOEF. Despite this, the Madhya Pradesh Government and the private project promoters are asking for filling the Maheshwar dam reservoir up to 154 mts.
This is completely unacceptable for the following reasons :
a. On 27.8.2011, last monsoon, when project authorities illegally closed the gates of Maheshwar dam and filled the water upto 154 mts, many houses and lands got submerged in several villages. Now, since no back water estimation is done at 154 mts, any permission may cause huge submergence and death of hundreds of people.
b. Zero percent rehabilitation has been achieved and less than 15% of the resettlement of the oustees has been achieved, although the same is required to be completed before reservoir filling is permitted. Even the Maheshwar dam oustees affected at 154 meters are yet to be rehabilitated.
c. As per Central Electricity Authority, no electricity generation is possible at 154 mts therefore the only motive behind this request seems to be to threaten oustees to flee without rehabilitation.
As per the Union Ministry of Power, the tariff of the electricity generated by this project is assessed at Rs 10 per unit, which is so costly that it cannot be purchased by anybody. Thus, there is no public interest to justify the submergence of 61 villages of this country for electricity that no one can purchase, only in order to provide undue pecuniary benefit to one single company.
We respectfully submit that it was clear from the letter of erstwhile Minister of MoEF dated 6.5.2011 lifting the stop work order on the five gates of the dam despite non-completion of R&R, that the PMO had intervened in favor of the S.Kumars leading to the violation of the law and the Constitution. We sincerely hope that this will not happen again. Therefore, we request you to direct the Ministry of Environment and Forest to ;
i. Not to give any permission to fill the Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts.
ii. Take strict action against the private project promoters for the illegal closure of the Maheshwar dam gates on 27.8.2011, in violation of the statutorily binding environmental Clearance dated 1.5.2001, and the Order of the Environment Ministry dated 6.5.2011.
iii. Direct the State Government and project authorities to strictly comply with the conditions of Environment Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and to rehabilitate and resettle the oustees as per the conditions of the clearance and the Rehabilitation policy. As per the environmental clearance and the Orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court, the reservoir can be filled only six month after the completion of rehabilitation and resettlement of all the oustees. In this case less than 15% of the resettlement and 0% of the rehabilitation has been achieved.
We hope you will take immediate steps in the matter and not allow the fundamental and statutory rights of the people of this country to be trampled on.
Thank you,
—
To,
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi,
Chairperson,
United Progressive Alliance,
10, Janpath,
New Delhi
Phone: 91-11-23034984, Fax: 91-11-23794616
E-mail: soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in, 10janpath@vsnl.net
Subject: Regarding not allowing any permission to fill Maheshwar reservoir upto 154 mts.
Respected Madam,
We are writing this letter to you with deep concern about the rehabilitation of oustees of Maheshwar Project. You may be aware that the SMHPCL – the private project promoters of the Maheshwar dam has not rehabilitated more than 85% of around 70,000 oustees of Maheshwar Project, and even a Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan as per the environmental clearance of the Ministry of Environment and Forests dated 1.5.2001, with details of agricultural land, housing sites etc has not been submitted to the MOEF. Yet, the Madhya Pradesh State Government and private project promoters are asking for filling the reservoir up to 154 mts.
This is completely unacceptable for the following reasons :
i. On 27.8.2011, last monsoon, when project authorities illegally closed the gates of Maheshwar dam and illegally filled the water up to 154 mts, many houses and lands got submerged in several villages. However since no back water estimation is done at 154 mts, any permission to fill the reservoir up to 154 meters is likely to cause huge submergence and the death of hundreds of people.
ii. Zero percent rehabilitation has been achieved and less than 15% of the resettlement of the oustees has been achieved, although the same is required to be completed before reservoir filling is permitted. Even the Maheshwar dam oustees affected at 154 meters are yet to be rehabilitated.
iii. As per Central Electricity Authority, no electricity generation is possible at 154 mts therefore the only motive behind the request of the S.Kumars to fill the reservoir up to 154 meters appears seems to be to threaten the oustees to flee without rehabilitation and resettlement.
iv. As per the Union Ministry of Power, the tariff of the electricity generated by this project is assessed at Rs 10 per unit, which is so costly that it cannot be purchased by anybody. Thus, there is no public interest to justify the submergence of 61 villages of this country for electricity that no one can purchase, only in order to provide undue benefit to one single company.
Therefore, we request you to request the Ministry of Environment and Forest to;
a. Not to give any permission to fill the Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts.
b. Take strict action against the private project promoters for violation of the statutorily binding environmental Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and Order of the Environment Ministry dated 6.5.2011, by the illegal closure of the gates on 27.8.2011.
c. To direct the State Government and project authorities to strictly comply with the conditions of Environment Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and to rehabilitate the oustees as per the conditions of the clearance and the Rehabilitation policy. As per Environment clearance and orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court, filling of the reservoir can be permitted only six month after the completion of rehabilitation of all oustees. In the present case, only 15% of the R&R has been achieved, and 0% of the rehabilitation has been achieved.
We hope you will take immediate steps in the matter and not allow the common people to lose faith and trust in the democratic processes.
Thank you,
—
To,
Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan,
Chief Minister,
Government of Madhya Pradesh,
Vallabh Bhawan,
Bhopal
Fax: 91-755-2441781, 2540501,
E-mail: cm@mp.nic.in
Subject: No permission to fill Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts.
Dear Sir,
We are writing this letter to you with deep concern about the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees of Maheshwar Hydel Project. You are aware that the project promoters of the Maheshwar Hydel Project – the S.Kumars have not rehabilitated more than 85% of around 70,000 oustees of the project. Even a Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan as per clearance of Ministry of Environment dated 1.5.2001, with details of agricultural land and housing sites etc have not been submitted. However, it is now learnt that the State Government and private project promoters are asking for filling the Maheshwar dam reservoir up to 154 mts.
This is completely unacceptable for the following reasons:
a. On 27.8.2011, last monsoon, when project authorities illegally closed the gates of Maheshwar dam and filled the water upto 154 mts, many houses and lands got submerged in several villages. Now, since no back water estimate has been prepared at 154 meters, any permission to fill the reservoir up to 154 meters is likely to cause huge submergence and death of hundreds of people.
b. Zero percent rehabilitation has been achieved and less than 15% of the resettlement of the oustees has been achieved, although the same is required to be completed before reservoir filling is permitted. Even the Maheshwar dam oustees affected at 154 meters are yet to be rehabilitated.
c. As per Central Electricity Authority, no electricity generation is possible at 154 mts therefore the only motive behind this request seems to be to threaten oustees to flee without rehabilitation.
Therefore, we request you to:
i. Withdraw the request of the State Government to fill the Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 meters.
ii. Take strict action against the private project promoters for violation of the statuary binding environmental clearance dated 1.5.2001, and order of the Environment Ministry dated 6.5.2011, for illegal closure of the gates of the Maheshwar dam on 27.8.2011.
iii. Direct the project authorities to strictly comply with the conditions of Environment Clearance dated 1.5.2001 and rehabilitate and resettle the oustees as per the conditions of the environmental clearance and the Rehabilitation policy. As per the environmental clearance and orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court, any submergence can be permitted only six month after the completion of rehabilitation of all oustees.
We hope you will take immediate steps and not allow any filling of Maheshwar reservoir up to 154 mts thus preventing the possible death of hundreds of people of the Narmada valley.
Thank you,
———————
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
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